Regulating Quality of Incense Offerings, Testing Air Quality and Impact on Respiratory Health from Burnings in Residential Estates

Ms Poh Li San asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the National Environment Agency regulates the quality of incense offerings sold and tests their impact on air quality and respiratory health, especially when the offerings are burnt in residential estates more frequently during certain times of the year.

The quality of incense offerings and the practice of burning incense are not regulated by law. Instead, the National Environment Agency (NEA) works with stakeholders, such as Town Councils, agencies and religious organisations, to encourage responsible burning of joss paper and incense.

Based on NEA's ambient air quality monitoring, the burning of incense offerings does not have a discernible impact on the overall air quality. As the burning of incense offerings and joss paper can cause localised disamenities, we encourage members of the public to be considerate when carrying out such practices.