Allergic to wax tarts?

Question

For the last year and a half I've been using wax tarts in warmers to make my house smell good. They've worked perfectly fine up until a month or so ago when I realized my allergies start acting up really bad when I melt them. I only have seasonal allergies, which are completely under control. I don't have any problem except when I melt my wax. I thought the scents used in them were artificial. What is in them that's causing my allergies to bother me?

Answer 1

The scent is usually an oil, and artificial or not...your nose doesn't know the difference.  I can smell a certain candle scent (flower) and react the same as if I were smelling the real thing.

And...our allergies change as we get older.  Things that bothered me in the past, no long bother me, and things I use to love to smell...I can't.

Answer 2

The important thing to remember is that you can gain or lose an allergy to just about anything, at any point in your life.

Those little wax tarts may contain artificial chemicals, but a portion of the molecule still has the shape of what you find in nature.  When this shape hits the receptor in your nose, it translates into a comperable smell.  So it is no stretch of the imagination to think that if the immune system could be responding to that shape, causing an allergy.

You may also be developing an allergy to paraffin.  This is something that I have.  Paraffin, even though it is not the typical protein or glycoprotein allergy trigger, is large and fatty, so it can be an allergy trigger.  I have to snuff out candles instead of blowing them out because the smoldering/vaporized paraffin causes allergy issues.

All it takes is a cold/infection, while you are burning the tarts, to develop an allergy.  That is enough to cause the immune system to specialize a response and perform antibody class switching to IgE, the allergy antibody.  If you live in an urban area, it can be as easy as the ozone in photo-smog irritating the tissues of your nose, resulting in allergy.

What is specifically bothering you is hard to determine, but you can experiment a little.  Try burning non-scented candles to see if vaporized paraffin is your issue.  Try a totally different scent, or a different brand to make your house smell nice.