Fireworks Pollute?

Now that the Fourth of July holiday is over we can tell you something about the holiday you probably wouldn't have wanted to hear. We're going to give you a year to get used to the fact that fireworks pollute.


There are two methods of propelling fireworks into the sky: compressed air, which is harmless, and gunpowder, which isn't. Add to that the accelerants used to fling the fireworks into the air and the heavy metals that give us those bright colors, and we’re looking at a cocktail of particulate matter than can stay in the trees and contaminate surface water for weeks. One heavy metal, used to make fireworks bright green, is barium, which is radioactive. Dioxins are combined with copper compounds to give us blue colored fireworks and cancer. Other special effects are created via cadmium, lithium, antimony, rubidium, strontium, and even lead. These heavy metals are known to cause respiratory problems.

A major pollutant in fireworks is perchlorate, which can interfere with thyroid gland function. Contaminating perchlorate can last as long as several months in the water supply, but it is eventually broken down by microbes.

The federal Clean Air Act regulates the release of toxins. Responsible municipalities should contract pyrotechnics who comply with the rules by limiting the amount of airborne toxins released during a fireworks display. Unfortunately, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection does not regulate fireworks.

Sorry, folks, to have ruined your holiday retroactively, but all is not lost. The Walt Disney Corporation, famous for its fireworks displays at its amusement parks, has been using compressed air instead of gunpowder. Replacements for perchlorate are also being developed; these compounds use nitrogen instead. Removing perchlorate removes the smoke as well. Using nitrocellulose instead leaves only carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen in the air. And if you went to the fireworks display in Philadelphia this year you would have seen a perchlorate-free display.

We have a year to contact our municipalities and ask them to color 2010's fireworks green. Let's get to it.

For more information on firework toxins:
Perchlorate
Fireworks
The Prettiest Pollutants
EarthTalk

More optimistic information can be found at
Perchlorate
Greener Fireworks
Environmentally-conscious pyrotechnic company