A mosquito coil burns for six to eight hours and releases a concentrated mix of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and pyrethroid insecticide compounds into the air. Agarbatti sticks produce a similar cocktail: fine particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, benzene, and formaldehyde, at levels that, in a small closed room, can exceed outdoor pollution benchmarks within minutes. For the person sitting upright near a window, the exposure is real but diluted. For a dog asleep on the floor, or a cat curled under a chair, the exposure is higher, longer, and happening inside a respiratory system that was not built for it.
