Tips categories
Articles with tips for going green to help protect the environment we all affect!
building
business
cleaning
clothing
energy
family
food
gadgets
garden
health
home
pets
repairs
transport
water
coupon discounts
 
Renewable energy - solar power, wind energy and hot water
 
Special offer
NEW - Green Deal Of The Day! Save 50 - 90% on earth friendly products!
::
Buy castile soap and save! Learn more about uses for eco friendly castile soap
Article Options
Popular Articles
  1. Brown rice vs white rice
  2. Hydrogen peroxide tips
  3. Uses for eucalyptus oil
  4. Handy borax tips
  5. Recycling styrofoam
  6. White sugar vs raw sugar
  7. Castile soap
  8. 30 baking soda tips
  9. White bread vs brown bread
  10. 24 handy lemon tips
No popular articles found.
Get involved!
Feel free to add comments to tips and blog posts & build on the information or click here to submit new earth friendly tips and environmental news items!
 
Green Living Tips on Twitter
 
Green Living Tips on Facebook

 
bookmark or share this page
 »  Home  »  pets  »  Fireworks and perchlorate
Fireworks and perchlorate
By Green Living Tips | Published  07/1/2007 | pets , health , family
Fireworks - beautiful but environmentally damaging

I loved fireworks when I was a kid. I remember the excitement leading up to the one day of the year that ordinary folks could purchase roman candles, po-has, tom thumbs, ball shooters and a myriad of other fireworks.

When I started to work at an animal shelter at the tender age of 11; I saw another side to the festivities. Leading up to and immediately after the big night, we'd not only get animals coming in that escaped their yards after having been terrorized by the sound of fireworks; but also wounded by the same. Sadly, often these injuries were intentional. 

I have seen a dog that had explosive fireworks inserted into its anus. I've seen a kitten with its leg blown off after having a similar firework attached. I've seen domestic and native animals with singed fur, feathers and burns after being used as targets by people with  ball shooter fireworks. Some people are just incredibly sick and it was quite a shock to witness this babarity at such a young age.

Still, even now I admire the beauty of a well executed fireworks display, but I had never given the environmental aspect a lot of thought past the animal cruelty aspect.

One of the major environmental problems of fireworks is a chemical called perchlorate in the form of  potassium or ammonium perchlorate; a commonly used ingredient in explosives. It's an evironmentally persistent contaminant that is increasingly being found in drinking water and groundwater - even in cow's milk. Perchlorate can inhibit the thyroid gland’s ability to absorb iodine from the bloodstream in humans, fish and animals.

A study by the EPA on a lake in Omaha where a fireworks display was held showed that perchlorate levels in the lake water rose up to 1,028 times the measurement taken pre-fireworks display. It took up to 80 days for the lake to fully return to its previous perchlorate saturation levels.

There's not only the percholate issues, but the use of heavy-metal colorants and other chemicals in fireworks that are environmentally damaging. Smoke from fireworks displays and associated bonfires can create a visible difference in smog levels in a city the following day.

While fireworks aren't a major issue when compared to some of the other environmental challenges we face, it's just another example of how much our pursuit of entertainment impacts on the natural world and it begs the question - are they something we really need, or at least on such a scale?

Personally, I think watching a meteor shower or a shooting star is as good as a fireworks display and there's a sense of achievement when you spot one; it adds to the awe and special nature of the phenomenon.

Maybe we all need to turn more to nature for the "oohs" and "ahhs" moments in our lives?




Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
Article reproduction guidelines
 
Related Articles

 
blog comments powered by Disqus
Archived/older comments
  • Comment #1 (Posted by Mark Woodburn)

    Michael,

    First, I would like to thank you for all your good works, articles, hints and tips. Like millions of people worldwide, I realize the crucial need to keep our (human) impacts on our environment down to a sustainable level in many areas and do what I can, wherever I can do it.

    I disagree with your fireworks and perchlorate article however as it contains most of the disinformation and supposition-given-as-fact that makes this an issue.

    As a fireworks hobbyist and environmentally concerned person, I have spent considerable time and effort researching supposed ground water contamination cases and claims.

    Perchlorates in general have been given a bad rap and the levels of the contamination and the supposed sources have been grossly misreported in most cases.

    Perchlorates are naturally occurring in any given area of the world but (as is generally the case) the extreme cases of contamination can almost always be linked to non-naturally occurring (man-made) perchlorates and almost always these can also be linked to munitions manufacturing, large manufacturing facilities, agricultural fertilizers and the supply routes these man-made sources of perchlorate take to reach its final destination.

    Fireworks use of perchlorates (worldwide) account for less than 3 percent of all perchlorate - whether naturally occurring or synthetic. More than 90 percent of it is used in weapons manufacturing and almost all of the remaining 7% is used for fertilizers of some kind or another.

    While very large shows may use some amounts of perchlorate that could conceivably be damaging, as the study in Nebraska showed, the levels ALWAYS drop to their base-line readings (usually) within 10 to 20 days of the display. The 80 day level persistence in Nebraska was atypical and no doubt due to the size of the display (larger than average) and the fact that it was intentionally shot directly over a body of water (not a normal display site).

    What almost no article of this kind ever mentions is the fact that perchlorates are commonly used in medical testing of thyroid function and that THOUSANDS of times the amount of the most lax standards anywhere are introduced directly into the person's bloodstream (i.e.; not inhaled or ingested but injected). While this does suppress thyroid functions for a short time (the reason for the injections), not only does this not do any short-term harm, it has no long-term effects associated with this testing that as ever been documented or reported and the person’s ‘normal’ thyroid functions return with a matter of days post-testing.

    I agree that perchlorate exposure of infants and pregnant women should be avoided due to the potential harm to the fetus or developing child but respectfully submit that any short-term, low-level exposure due to a fireworks show is not where the danger lies.

    The common ratio of fuel to oxidizer in the average fireworks shell is 70 to 30. Accounting for the 'dead weight' of non-pyrotechnic compounds (paper, rice hulls and other fillers and construction materials), in a one-thousand pound (gross weight) fireworks show which, is a good sized show, there could possibly be a grand total of 87.5 pounds of raw perchlorate assuming that every shell in the show uses this as an oxidizer (which they do not all use).

    During the bursting of the shells, there may be up to one percent of the material, which 'blow blind' (do not ignite). The rest burns - as is evidenced by the 'oohs and ahhs' from the crowd as they watch the display (i.e.: No oxidizer burn, no fuel burn, no fuel burn, and no pretty colors).

    This means that in any given show of any significant size, IF all shells used perchlorate and IF all shells remained one percent unburned, the total amount of perchlorate ‘pollutant’ would average less than 1 pound per show – now - compare this with spreading a single 40 pound bag of common Lawn Fertilizer on your yard – 38.4 pounds of perchlorate, and you begin to get the idea here that maybe the bad guy is not fireworks in this scenario.

    Around the year 2000, the EPA went on a crusade against perchlorate contamination in ground water and drinking supply water in the US. The first (and so far ONLY) case in which they claimed that fireworks were THE cause of groundwater contamination was in Hills, IA, a small town in the county I reside in.

    Because of my love of fireworks and my personal concern for our environment, I was drawn to learn all I could about this claimed link. I went into this endeavor with the intention of quitting my involvement with fireworks should this prove true and had no preconceptions about the outcome whatsoever.

    Using reports from the US Geological Survey, data from the Federal Governmental agencies such as the EPA itself, independent studies from many sources and pouring over all of the facts, figures, etc I could find, I came up with my own report which shows that the claim of the EPA in the Hills, IA groundwater contamination case is at best a weak attempt to divert attention from the real sources of the contamination and at worst, flatly (and knowingly) false.

    If you are interested, a link to my 60-page report is here: http://tinyurl.com/5ht4oj

    It may also interest you to know that the EPA has since backed off on its position that fireworks have been causing groundwater contamination cases and has never conclusively been able to link the two in any case where persistent contamination is present.

    In my report (May 2006 + an update in 2007), I allude to the probable findings of the next EPA report following the only instance ever of having 2 fireworks shows in a single year in Hills, IA (their sesquicentennial celebration). I predicted that the levels of perchlorate measured would follow the same (unexplained by the EPA) trend of FALLING in the fall of the year (following the July 4th display) and RISING in the spring (prior to the display but following spring planting/fertilizing) as staying constant – and it did.

    Bottom line is that in every case of PERSISTENT contamination researched, it has been found that there MUST be a constant source of perchlorate to replenish it. Report after report and test after test has proven that Perchlorate levels will naturally diminish, and that in every instance, just as in the Nebraska report you cite, elevated levels return to baseline levels soon after the initial 'contamination' occurs.

    If you do bother to check this out further and agree with my position and conclusions (please check my work, as I am only an amateur), a follow-up to this article would be greatly appreciated by us fireworks enthusiasts as there is precious little in print in the way of exoneration for us on this issue.

    Thanks for your time.

     
Comment submission link (no longer in use - please use new form above)