Whether it’s for tradition or just celebrating a national holiday, energizing a local festival, or just the strange amusement of seeing things blown up, Americans set off fireworks ranging from the cheap driveway rocket to the six-figure civic show.

After the color fades, the polluting matter stays.

Credit: Xmooth
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Enlarge + In creating and spectating pyrotechnic displays, though, few seem to consider the rather obvious link between fireworks and air pollution. The result is an environmentally irresponsible form of entertainment.

Fireworks and Air Pollution: Blackpowder (Gunpowder)

In order for fireworks to shoot up into the air and explode, a host of pyrotechnic chemicals are used, including the charcoal and calcium and sulfur compounds that comprise blackpowder (gunpowder). When fireworks are set off, these chemicals react to ignite and propel the explosives and then account for the bulk of the smoky, dusty mess that hangs in the air long after the luminary effects have faded. All one has to do is look at (and smell) the giant mass of particulate matter concentrated in the air after a large display to understand the extent to which fireworks and air pollution are synonymous.

Fireworks and Air Pollution: Metal Salts for Color

Along with the loud bangs and sizzling crackles of fireworks, people seem to enjoy the array of colors –bold reds, bright whites, shocking blues, and more. But this diversity of fireworks colors means more than just visual stimulation; it also means that a mix of metals are released into the atmosphere with every single explosion. To make those red, white, and blue fireworks, manufacturers pack the explosives with things like strontium compounds, magnesium, and dioxin-laden copper mixtures (respectively). And then there’s toxic barium for green, sodium nitrate for yellow, and a mix of for calcium compounds for orange. These are just a handful of the chemicals released into the air by fireworks displays and breathed by people in attendance, even in neighborhood settings where individual consumers light “backyard” fireworks just feet away from friends and family. As if the blackpowder required to blast fireworks into the air doesn’t constitute enough pollution, these metal salts – many of which are truly noxious – spread through our air and even into our water.

Fireworks and Air Pollution: There’s litter on the ground, too!


POSTED BY: The Oxford City Council
Fireworks Regulations 2004

Noise problems
Fireworks can frighten and intimidate people, especially the elderly. Animals have literally been scared to death by fireworks; others may be startled leading to injury and accidents.

Air pollution
Fireworks can be very colourful and this is caused by a cocktail of chemicals. Around Bonfire Night there is a noticeable increase in air pollution from fireworks and bonfires.
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Declare Your Independence from Toxic Fireworks Pollution
From Larry West,
Your Guide to Environmental Issues.
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Fireworks Litter the Ground, Pollute Water Supplies, and Damage Human Health

Dear EarthTalk: Do fireworks celebrations cause any significant pollution?
—David Hiebert, Scottdale, PA

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the fireworks displays that go on around the U.S. every Fourth of July are still typically propelled by the ignition of gunpowder—a technological innovation that pre-dates the American Revolution itself. And the fall-out from these exhibitions includes a variety of toxic pollution that rain down on neighborhoods from coast to coast, often in violation of federal Clean Air Act standards.

Fireworks Can Be Toxic to Humans
Depending on the effect sought, fireworks produce smoke and dust that contain various heavy metals, sulfur-coal compounds and other noxious chemicals.

Environmental Issues
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Barium, for instance, is used to produce brilliant green colors in fireworks displays, despite being poisonous and radioactive. Copper compounds are used to produce blue colors, even though they contain dioxin, which has been linked to cancer. Cadmium, lithium, antimony, rubidium, strontium, lead and potassium nitrate are also commonly used to produce different effects, even though they can cause a host of respiratory and other health problems.
Fireworks Contribute to Environmental Pollution
The chemicals and heavy metals used in fireworks also take their toll on the environment, sometimes contributing to water supply contamination and even acid rain. Their use also deposits physical litter on the ground and into water bodies for miles around. As such, some U.S. states and local governments restrict the use of fireworks in accordance with guidelines set by the Clean Air Act. The American Pyrotechnics Association provides a free online directory of state laws across the U.S. regulating the use of fireworks.

Fireworks Add to Worldwide Pollution
Of course, fireworks displays are not limited to U.S. Independence Day celebrations. Fireworks use is increasing in popularity around the world, including in countries without strict air pollution standards. According to The Ecologist, millennium celebrations in 2000 caused environmental pollution worldwide, filling skies over populated areas with “carcinogenic sulphur compounds and airborne arsenic.”

Disney Pioneers Innovative Fireworks Technology
Not usually known for championing environmental causes, the Walt Disney Company has pioneered new technology using environmentally benign compressed air instead of gunpowder to launch fireworks. Disney puts on hundreds of dazzling fireworks displays every year at its various resort properties in the U.S. and Europe, but hopes its new technology will have beneficial impact on the pyrotechnics industry worldwide. The company has made the details of new patents it has filed for the technology available to the pyrotechnics industry at large with the hope that other companies will also green up their offerings.

Do We Really Need Fireworks?
While Disney’s technological breakthrough is no doubt a step in the right direction, many environmental and public safety advocates would rather see the Fourth of July and other holidays and events celebrated without the use of pyrotechnics. Parades and block parties are some obvious alternatives. Meanwhile, laser light shows can wow a crowd without the negative environmental side effects associated with fireworks.