Scented candles have never been so popular and, with winter just around the corner, natural ventilation will be restricted when we close our windows and doors to keep out the cold.

Helen has used scented candles for a few years now to make the rooms smell nice, but I’ve always been concerned about using them in winter without appropriate ventilation.

Convinced it was the candles that were causing the problems with her blocked sinuses, I decided to check them out.

I was horrified to learn that behind some of those enticing aromas was a concoction of chemicals which, when in a confined space, can be categorised as being dangerous to your health.

According to leading UK and US scientists, high levels of a variety of chemicals are given off by not only candles but plug-in air freshener and some aerosol sprays, with some of them being carcinogenic.

One survey I found online suggested an unacceptably high concentration of lead being distributed into the air from candles made in the US and China.

Other products such as benzine, made by the petrochemical industry, and limonene, which is used to give that lemon fresh smell, when it reacts with ozone, which is a natural part of the air we breath, can form the toxin formaldehyde.

One thing’s for sure, I won’t be buying Helen any more scented candles and hopefully Helen won’t be tempted to buy any herself.

I wonder if now is the time to bring in some legislation which would either highlight the dangers of using scented candles and plug-ins or even require the contents to be listed with a health warning stating the effects the contents can cause if used in a confined place.

Rules limit uni places for medics

I was watching the Conservative conference on television where one of the speakers was talking about our National Health Service.

Reference was made to the need for more home-grown doctors, which many people would probably support.

The problem is we don’t have enough home-grown doctors so we rely on doctors coming in from other countries.

Sadly one of our problems lies with the constraints put on our universities by the Scottish Government demanding more places be available to foreign students, which generates extra income, but to the exclusion of our own young people.

X Factor choices a big switch-off

I was really disappointed at the selections made by judges on this year’s X Factor, selecting individuals who, in my opinion, have no talent whatsoever.

Who in their right mind would put the bizarre Honey G, pictured, as one their three prime candidates and reject the other four who had far more talent? I would suggest to Simon Cowell he needs to get a grip of his judges or the show will have even fewer viewers than it had last year – and that was bad enough.