As you pull up a lawn chair to watch fireworks this Fourth of July, you might wonder if all that smoke and dust generated to celebrate U.S. independence is healthy for the Earth. Could this most cherished of American traditions harm the environment?
Fireworks are explosives, which are not by design eco-friendly. Both backyard and public displays spew out not only dust and smoke but also heavy metals, carbon monoxide and sulfur oxides.
Chemicals used to create certain colors are highly toxic. The barium compounds that produce green are transformed when fireworks explode into water-soluble chemicals that are poisonous and can cause heart and lung problems, according to Dr. Thomas Klapotke, professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Munich in Germany.
Fireworks clearly come at an environmental cost, says Klapotke, who has been studying the polluting effects of fireworks to create more environmentally friendly pyrotechnics using nitrogen — instead of gunpowder — as a propellant. Using copper compounds to create a barium-free green is also under study. But backyard fireworks a few times a year don’t harm the environment as much as commercial fireworks launched daily at theme parks, Klapotke says.
Today’s fireworks are less toxic than in the past, and research will find even better alternatives, says Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA), the leading fireworks industry trade organization.
For example, the Walt Disney Co. developed “air launch” technology that it uses for nightly fireworks shows at its Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Substituting compressed air for gunpowder significantly reduces smoke and other pollutants.
Many toxic chemicals have been banned from fireworks over the years, Heckman says. Arsenic, for example, was used in “snakes” into the 1990s before being banned in the United States. Because 98 percent of all fireworks are manufactured in China, the APA has created a laboratory there to monitor those destined for the U.S. market. Barium, however, is still on the “allowed chemicals” list, Heckman says.
Although the search for more environmentally friendly fireworks is well under way, it will be at least six to 10 years before these products are available to the general public, Heckman says. “Formulas for making fireworks have existed for hundreds of years,” she says. “When you’re manipulating chemicals, it is important that they not only perform well, but will be safe to use.”
by Marcia Passos Duffy
http://climate.weather.com/articles/julyfireworks2008.html?from=pif_locallinker_undeclared
