A Determination of the Density, Melting Point, and Amount of Lead and Carbon Released into the Air When Burning Various Candles With and Without Metallic Cores in the Wicks.
Candles have become very popular recently and are used for
relaxation and therapeutic purposes. However, candles can be very
dangerous if the wicks contain a metal core that emits lead into the air
when burned. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a
candle with a metallic wick, nonmetallic wick, and the wax itself would
emit lead and to correlate the density, melting point, and amount of
carbon soot produced by burning the candles. It was hypothesized that
candles made with a low density wax would emit a large amount of carbon
when burned and lead would be released from those with metallic cores.
The carbon deposition was tested by collecting carbon from burning the
candles and calculating the amount of carbon released per gram of wax
per minute. The density was tested using an analytical balance, and the
melting point was obtained by using the Karl Fisher Johns Apparatus. The
lead content was measured after acid digestion using an Atomic
Absorption Spectrophotometer. The experimental results for the carbon
deposition and density did not support the research hypothesis. The
results were not found to be statistically significant at [alpha]=0.05
level. These results indicate that other factors may contribute to the
amount of carbon deposition than density alone. For the lead content,
all of the candles with metal wicks were reported to have lead in the
wicks. Therefore, the results for the lead content did support the
research hypothesis.
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