# Are lit candles really an effective way of cleansing the air from farts?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-lit-candles-really-an-effective-way-of-cleansing-the-air-from-farts/159940>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 8, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-lit-candles-really-an-effective-way-of-cleansing-the-air-from-farts/159940 "2003-03-08T18:24:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![PurplePerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PurplePerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurplePerson)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-lit-candles-really-an-effective-way-of-cleansing-the-air-from-farts/159940/21 "2003-03-24T12:39:31Z")

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Is part of the fart, poop particles, that are sucked into the nose?

My daughter and he friends did a dumb thing. When a friend did a fart, they held a lighter to her butt and it was like a flamer thrower. Scary, huh?

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**Author:** ![derivative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@derivative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/derivative)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-lit-candles-really-an-effective-way-of-cleansing-the-air-from-farts/159940/22 "2003-03-24T18:53:07Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> My daughter and he friends did a dumb thing. When a friend did a fart, they held a lighter to her butt and it was like a flamer thrower. Scary, huh?

LOL I am a pro in that field haha 😃 Just always make sure to keep your cotton undies on to prevent burns!

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-lit-candles-really-an-effective-way-of-cleansing-the-air-from-farts/159940/23 "2003-03-24T21:29:47Z")

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Just to add to what **Qadgop the Mercotan** has pointed out:

> [@](#):
>
> \*from [The facts of flatulence\*](http://www.csonline.net/bpaddock/fart/fart.htm)  
> **The reason this is important is that different bacteria digest different kinds of carbohydrates. Some make more methane; others  
> help hydrogen to combine with sulfur (from other foods or water) to make hydrogen sulfide. According to Levitt and Bond,  
> only about one-third of us excrete CH4, a capability that, again, seems to depend on the bacteria floating around us at birth.  
> There’s an easy way to determine whether you produce methane or not: if you do, your stools will float. This is because CH4 gets trapped in the stool, making it less dense than water. Better the relatively odorless methane, however, than  
> hydrogen-sulfide, which has the unavoidable odor of rotten eggs. “The only notable fact about methane is that it burns with a  
> blue flame,” says Van Thiel, "and that’s why crazy college kids who like to, uh, ignite their flatus have to be methane producers.  
> And those who make more methane are more like flamethrowers than those who don’t."**

[ul]😛 [sup] **It is the sulfur in the match and not the flame that kills the smell.** [/sup][/ul]

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**Author:** ![derivative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@derivative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/derivative)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-lit-candles-really-an-effective-way-of-cleansing-the-air-from-farts/159940/24 "2003-03-25T18:53:21Z")

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LOL How ironic…kill sulfur with sulfur!

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