Are fireworks bad for the environment?

Question

I love fireworks as much as the next guy, but I have to wonder -- are they bad for the planet? Are there statistics that show what kind of effect fireworks have on the air?

Answer 1

Of course they are bad for the air they create unnatural toxins in the air which mix with the vapors circulating around the air. Thus, much of the toxins in the air that will be mixed in there in about 1.5 weeks will be from the fireworks of the celebration of Fourth of July. Also in New Years much more toxins are released with the wide variations of national celebrations that many countries hold. These toxins create smog, acid rain, and a few enviromental damages. The fireworks also create physical distractions in the enviroment expecially oceans because as you probably know, fireworks release plastic and ash onto the ground which usually goes along the way with run-off. This is a problem but it is minor considering the great factor that other problems are to the damages of the enviroment (such as huge factories). Statistics show that about 0.03% of the toxins on the planet each year come from fireworks. That isn't much compared to big factors.
If you really do care about the enviroment perhaps you would use simple fireworks like the ones that pop on the floor (-_-). I'd like to help the enivorment but don't we all love using fireworks? Just don't use many of those big ones...
Good night : )
I wish you a happy and safe Fourth of July.

Answer 2

Yes, bad. At our community fireworks show last year, there was a lot of smoke and vapors in the air from the fireworks, but much more from the cars people drove to get there. There was also a lot of litter from the people watching the show.

Answer 3

If we put all the fireworks together that are lit and shot up into our air I would say yes they are bad for the environment. The smoke alone does not dissipate into nothingness. It lingers in the atmosphere and creates a haze that our population has to breath. As a member of this great planet of ours, now a user of oxygen to breath, I find the fireworks very offensive. Beautiful as they are they are just not worth the cause of respiratory problems for our youth and elderly population. And, not to say what the left over trash does to the ground where it lays for days permeating the soil and the water.

Answer 4

There is a festival called "Deepavali" (spelt as also 'Diwali', a festival of 'lights') in India, sometime Oct/Nov each year. The fire crackers, etc burnt on that day chokes almost all the cities that day. We hardly need any statistics after witnessing it. But whether it harms the planet is not very clear. It does pollute the much needed , but very little available fresh air in the cities, especially due to skyscrapers that have come up in the recent years.

Answer 5

If the environment is the beach, yes! I'm always picking up fireworks debris on the beach. Animals can ingest the plastic parts and kill them.

Answer 6

Fireworks are a mixed conundrum. Aside from the geographical aspects listed by others, our enviromnent includes individual people affected by them. The difference of impact from one person to another can be quite revealing.

For example, last year while attending my community's Independence Day fireworks display I paid close attention to others nearby. Some of those observations literally made me cry.

Many of the war veterans, especially those who served in Viet Nam, were visibly distressed. This was brought on by audio, visual, and ollifactory memories triggered by the stimulus affecting those senses. Varying degrees of PTSD behaviors were manifested.

Our community has lost a much beloved young man who died in Iraq. (Jason Clairday has just been awarded the Navy Cross, post-humously.) Family, friends, and neighbors were weeping during the fireworks display.

Then there were the casual citizenry, relatively unaffected by military conflicts, either past or present. For them the display seemed like little more than a free outdoor pyrotechnics show.

Answer 7

In addition to the excellent information provided by sexyteddy above, you should also consider the impact at the manufacturing plants where fireworks are made, not to mention at the mines where the raw material is ripped out of the ground. It is not very pretty.

Answer 8

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 T0XIC to HUMANS
Depending on the effect sought, fireworks produce smoke and dust that contain various heavy metals, sulfur-coal compounds and other noxious chemicals. 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 P0LLUTION
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 P0LUTION
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.

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Answer 9

Hey there,
To download for free Adobe Fireworks you can click here http://bitly.com/1p3iluR
Very useful program!
Bye Bye

Answer 10

Yes fire work is not simply bad but it is hazardous to entire environment. It induces sulphur in air, which causes various breathing diseases. Like running nose, asthma skin diseases. it also produces lot of noise pollution. Some children's may develop fear, some one having BP may increase. Fire work gives instantaneous joy to some one but long lasting problems to Marney. Apart from this lot of money is wasted, one can donate this money to orphan schools or old age homes etc.
Now a days we have electronic display systems which can be used insted of fire work, they also produce sounds. one can take up this job and earn more.
Shrikant S. K.