#7 Smoking is still worse.
While burning incense was found to release toxic compounds comparable to burning cigarettes, breathing in the haze comes nothing close to smoking a cigarette. According to an article in the Straits Times, a person will take in about 1,100 mcg of pollutants if he stays outdoors for the whole day when PM2.5 levels are at 100 mcg per cubic meter (PM2.5 levels are currently around 150-200). A smoker, on the other hand, will inhale 10,000 mcg to 40,000 mcg of PM2.5 pollutant for every cigarette consumed.
