Eco-Friendly Fireworks Offer Safer Pyrotechnics
source: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/07/02/eco-friendly-fireworks.html
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- DeliaTheArtist
- added this
"Fireworks are fun, exciting and often free to watch, but there may be a hidden cost: The flashing displays can harm the environment and pose risks to human health.
Now, scientists are working on a new generation of kinder, gentler pyrotechnics. While still explosive and dramatic, these fireworks produce less smoke and use fewer toxic metals that end up in soil and groundwater.
Eco-friendly fireworks are more expensive than the regular kind, and it's too soon to expect your neighborhood Fourth of July display to use them. But the research should be welcome news for people who operate or watch fireworks on a regular basis.
"Everyone at or downwind of a pyrotechnic display is getting subjected to levels of these metals that aren't natural levels," said David E. Chavez, a chemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. "Whether that really is going to cause health effects is up for debate."
Disneyland provided the initial impetus for Chavez's group to start investigating cleaner burning fireworks. Night after night, as the theme park put on spectacular fireworks displays, neighbors began to complain about smoke that was enveloping their homes and irritating their lungs. Elsewhere, studies have shown a rise in asthma attacks during fireworks-filled festivals."
Now, scientists are working on a new generation of kinder, gentler pyrotechnics. While still explosive and dramatic, these fireworks produce less smoke and use fewer toxic metals that end up in soil and groundwater.
Eco-friendly fireworks are more expensive than the regular kind, and it's too soon to expect your neighborhood Fourth of July display to use them. But the research should be welcome news for people who operate or watch fireworks on a regular basis.
"Everyone at or downwind of a pyrotechnic display is getting subjected to levels of these metals that aren't natural levels," said David E. Chavez, a chemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. "Whether that really is going to cause health effects is up for debate."
Disneyland provided the initial impetus for Chavez's group to start investigating cleaner burning fireworks. Night after night, as the theme park put on spectacular fireworks displays, neighbors began to complain about smoke that was enveloping their homes and irritating their lungs. Elsewhere, studies have shown a rise in asthma attacks during fireworks-filled festivals."
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- groups:
- Green, Science, 4th of July
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- tags:
- Green, Science, 4th of July
