Smoke from mosquito coils can be harmful to health. A study compared the quantities of fine particles and formaldehyde released by coils with cigarette emissions, but this does not mean their health effects are identical.
Many people use sprays or burn coils to prevent mosquito bites, believing the smoke will keep mosquitoes away and protect them from disease. A commonly circulated claim attributed to experts describes one coil’s smoke as being as harmful as approximately 60 cigarettes. Understanding that claim requires examining what the research actually compared.
A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2003 found that the quantity of PM2.5 particles emitted by one of the tested mosquito coils could equal the amount produced by burning 75 to 137 cigarettes.
The same study found that, under certain conditions, one coil could release as much formaldehyde as 51 cigarettes.
These figures compare specific pollutant emissions under experimental conditions. They do not mean that inhaling smoke from one mosquito coil is equivalent to smoking 137 cigarettes.
