I recently bought 2 new candles from Home Interior, and I noticed when I cut the wick that there was a little metal in the wicks in both candles. I thought they had to stop doing that because the metal released some kind of toxin in the air. Has anyone else heard about this?

By Colette on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 12:58 pm:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/leadwick.asp

not all metal wicks are lead. There is a test you can do on the wick at the bottom of this link to determine if it's lead or not.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 01:03 pm:

More info here. Scroll down to the bottom near the candle image.

Snopes.com: Lead-wicked candles

Most domestic candle manufacturers took lead out of their wicks in the 1970s, though the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 1974 didn't find it a health hazard. Concerns about the potential for harm continue to rage. In February 2000 the Public Citizen's Health Research Group asked the CPSC to immediately ban lead-wick candles and recall any that were still on store shelves.

According to the National Candle Association, the majority of wicks manufactured today in the U.S. are made entirely of cotton, with no metal cores. Those few wicks made with metal are typically zinc-core wicks. All of these wicks are safe, so there is no need to eschew metal wicks, just lead ones.

The National Candle Association says there is an easy way to test whether a candle has a lead core wick: Take an ordinary piece of white paper and rub it on the tip of an un-burnt wick. If the wick leaves a light grey pencil-like mark, it has a lead core. No mark, however, and the candle is lead-free.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 01:04 pm:

LOL, Colette! We were composing at the same time, but you posted first.

By Vicki on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 01:06 pm:

I can't say this for certainty as I don't work for Home Interior, but my rep told me YEARS ago that they didn't have lead in their wicks.

By Sandysmom on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 06:14 pm:

Thanks for the advice!!