Pollution is fireworks' dirty little secret / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, July 4, 2008

By Marla Cone - Los Angeles Times

July 4, 2008

When the rockets and the bombs burst in the air tonight, spectators will experience more than a spectacular show celebrating America's birthday.

Chemists say fireworks are the dirtiest of the dirty bombs: When their blends of black powder, metals, oxidizers, fuels and other toxic ingredients are ignited, traces wind up in the environment, often spreading long distances and lasting for days, even months.

Although pyrotechnic experts are developing environmentally friendly fireworks, Fourth of July revelers this year will be watching essentially the same, high-polluting technology that their grandparents experienced decades ago.

Public health officials warn that people with heart problems or respiratory diseases, such as asthma, should avoid the smoky celebrations, staying upwind or indoors.

"I enjoy a fireworks display as much as anyone else but we do have concerns about exposure to high levels of smoke and particles," said Jean Ospital, health effects officer for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Traces of poisonous metals, which give fireworks their bright colors, and perchlorate, a hormone-altering substance used as an oxidizer, contaminate waterways. One Environmental Protection Agency study found that perchlorate levels in an Oklahoma lake rose 1,000-fold after a fireworks display, and they stayed high in some areas for up to 80 days.

Discussion

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4 July 2008
at 3:23 a.m.

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igby (Anonymous) says…

Jesus, what next? Spam!
4 July 2008
at 7:55 a.m.

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cato_the_elder (Anonymous) says…

Just one more attempt by an environmentalist wacko to get us to abandon our traditions in the name of the faith-based religion of Global Warming.
4 July 2008
at 8:16 a.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

The knees are jerking wildly this morning, as usual.
4 July 2008
at 8:26 a.m.

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Mr_Nancy_Boy_To_You (Tom Shewmon) says…

I think this story was meant to give everyone a 4th of July chuckle…..kind of a fun, light-hearted read!! Ha-Ha!! I'll put a wet towel over my mouth and nose on the boat to tonight during the fireworks.
4 July 2008
at 8:28 a.m.

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wysiwyg69 (Anonymous) says…

look at where this article originated, out where they breathe crap 24/7 , lost angelas california.
4 July 2008
at 9:46 a.m.

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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

Predicted wind coming from East later..we're good!Too bad though, Topeka's all gonna die!Shouldn't Katie warn them?
4 July 2008
at 10 a.m.

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repaste (Anonymous) says…

What if Osama put a little “special powder” in one of those chinese firework plants, bettar watch who you vote for . . .

4 July 2008
at 10:21 a.m.

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mommaeffortx2 (Anonymous) says…

no worries here we will gladly be contributing to the destruction of the world tonight just like every 4th of july. Have fun.
4 July 2008
at 10:32 a.m.

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TheBurf (Anonymous) says…

oh &#*@ off.
4 July 2008
at 10:54 a.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

Fireworks are dangerous. People have the ability to weigh risks. That is all.
4 July 2008
at 12:35 p.m.

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beatrice (Anonymous) says…

Yeah, &#*@ off. How dare you tell us the stuff we like to do is hazardous. We don't want to know the truth. We can't handle the truth. I love that someone points out an obvious truth about fireworks, and some have to attack it because it seems to go against the stuff they like to do. Predictable reactions from a selfish bunch. All I can say to this group is this: Breath deep tonight. Take that smoke and junk deep into your lungs. I'm sure breathing in all the exploded chemicals that had been put together in factories in China will make you feel like a true American. &#*@ off, indeed.
4 July 2008
at 12:45 p.m.

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mike_blur (Mike Blur) says…

Say you went into a restaurant, or school, with your children and were exposed to the following chemicals.Aluminum, antimony sulfide, barium nitrate, copper compounds, polychlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans, lead dioxide, lead nitrate, lead chloride, lithium compounds, mercury, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, perchlorate, ammonium & potassium compounds, potassium nitrate, strontium, sulfur dioxide.Now, wouldn't that restaurant or school be shut down? The above chemicals are all a part of the average fireworks show.Like Jonas said, people have the ability to weigh risks. Go ahead, and breathe in that smoke from the fireworks this weekend. I dare ya. I dare your children to do so, as well.
4 July 2008
at 12:54 p.m.

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notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

Yet one more thing the scientist- kool-aid-drinkers say we have to give up (and the local kool-aid drinkers dutifully pick up the chorus) because it's 'dangerous' for us. Gee, explosive devices are dangerous - whoda' thunk it. It sure is amazing the human race still exists, what with all these things we've been doing or using or breathing or whatever that are so deadly. But the whackos will buy every line of this, like the part about “fireworks are the dirtiest of the dirty bombs.” The idiots that are listening to cr*p like that are most likely ingesting far more dangerous recreational chemicals too much.
4 July 2008
at 1:34 p.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

“I'm sure breathing in all the exploded chemicals that had been put together in factories in China will make you feel like a true American.”Snrk. Good one, Bea.
4 July 2008
at 2:35 p.m.

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beatrice (Anonymous) says…

notajay, if you had a choice between buying a home that had been used as a meth lab and has traces of harmful chemicals saturating the walls and the floor and the ceiling, or a clean home not saturated with chemicals, which would you choose? The choice there is pretty obvious.Now, if you could have fireworks that leave traces of harmful chemicals in the air and in the water and on the plants, or fireworks that were environmentally safe, why in the hell would you choose to use fireworks with harmful chemicals and ignore any advancements in the pyrotechnic field to make fireworks safer? The scientists aren't the enemy. The enemy is people like Bill O'Reilly for making you think that those who care about the environment are nothing but kool-aid drinkering liberals, as you claim. Time to think for yourself, notajay. It is also time to quit using O'Reilly's tired “kool-aid” line.

4 July 2008
at 3:41 p.m.

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Centerville (Anonymous) says…

I'm spending the holiday in a beautiful, friendly Kansas town where I can set all the fireworks I want and be treated to a fabulous display tonight. This article reminds me of how sorry I am for all of you who couldn't leave the nanny -approved Lawrence environment today. I'll throw a few M-80s in your memory! Happy Independence Day!
4 July 2008
at 4:47 p.m.

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jaywalker (Anonymous) says…

Been lighting fireworks, watching the displays, and barbecueing every Fourth for as long as I can remember. And EVERY where around me was a virtual wasteland for 80 to 90 days afterwards…every time!The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!
4 July 2008
at 4:50 p.m.

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notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

beatrice (Anonymous) says: “notajay, if you had a choice between buying a home that had been used as a meth lab and has traces of harmful chemicals saturating the walls and the floor and the ceiling, or a clean home not saturated with chemicals, which would you choose? The choice there is pretty obvious.”Um, gee, very thoughtful, bea. Yep, buying a home where, for months, there have been fumes and spills in a small, enclosed space, involving concentrated iodine, red phosphorous, acetone, various acids, etc, that have saturated the walls and floors of the home and continue to vent off fumes is almost the same thing as buying a house where someone lit off a package of Black Cats the previous July.”Now, if you could have fireworks that leave traces of harmful chemicals in the air and in the water and on the plants, or fireworks that were environmentally safe, why in the hell would you choose to use fireworks with harmful chemicals and ignore any advancements in the pyrotechnic field to make fireworks safer?”Just a guess, but maybe we're tired of paying five times as much for everything every time another fringe whacko says the way we're doing things - and have been for decades or even centuries - is suddenly harmful to the environment.”The scientists aren't the enemy.”Well, at least we agree on that little point. First, because I don't believe an idiot that uses sensationalism like comparing even a commercial quality large shell firework to setting off an explosive device laced with radioactive plutonium or uranium should be classified as a 'scientist.' And second because I believe the morons who pay attention to cr*p like that are far more dangerous.”The enemy is people like Bill O'Reilly for making you think that those who care about the environment are nothing but kool-aid drinkering liberals, as you claim. Time to think for yourself, notajay. It is also time to quit using O'Reilly's tired “kool-aid” line.”I realize the children of today are clueless about distant history, like all the way back to 1978, but some of us have been using the 'kool-aid line' since the events at Jonestown, bea. It's funny you urge others to think when your automatic assumption is that someone who disagrees with you listens to Bill OReilly - especially when you're so quick to swallow this garbage just because it was printed in a newspaper, referencing nameless “chemists,” and citing figures like “perchlorate levels … rose 1,000-fold” without any information on what they rose *to* or whether those levels were harmful or even significant.
4 July 2008
at 5:09 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

I learned something today, in that for purposes of argument, fireworks = meth labs.Woo Hoo!
4 July 2008
at 6:04 p.m.

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Newell_Post (Anonymous) says…

Slow news day. Very, very slow news day…..
4 July 2008
at 6:06 p.m.

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hornhunter (Anonymous) says…

“I enjoy a fireworks display as much as anyone else but we do have concerns about exposure to high levels of smoke and particles,” said Jean Ospital, health effects officer for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.What about all those forest fires and the smoke they emit?Please don't waste all the dihydrogenoxide on them
4 July 2008
at 6:13 p.m.

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LadyJ (Anonymous) says…

Please don't brush off the dangers of fireworks smoke as hogwash. They can cause a serious asthma attack, believe me I found out the hard way. While you are enjoying fireworks with your young children, if there is a lot of smoke, please watch them for signs of difficulty breathing.
4 July 2008
at 6:19 p.m.

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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

While I would still like for us to have fireworks…during this holiday, I remember the little girl in the KC area, who was far away from the firework area, but the baseboard to the mortarworks shot across the distance into her brain.I can't remember if she lived or not. Since I can't remember a recovery piece, I'm thinking she didn't make it.For those families, this is now a very tragic day of sights, sounds and smells.

4 July 2008
at 7:50 p.m.

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unknownperson (Anonymous) says…

who cares global warming is a hoax
4 July 2008
at 8:07 p.m.

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beatrice (Anonymous) says…

notajay, O'Reilly uses the kool-aid line regularly, and obviously you know that. Despite when the Jim Jones followers killed themselves, only in recent years has the kool-aid line been regularly (over)used by neocon followers of O'Reilly to describe anyone who doesn't toe the neocon line. But again, you surely know that. So your argument about this story is, why bother about the environment because it might require spending a bit more. Brilliant. Breathe deep tonight, my friend, and suck up that savings. Suck it deep into your lungs and hold it there, since it clearly isn't as bad as a meth lab. And if it ain't as bad as a meth lab then you need not worry about it. Just ignore that wheeze you'll find in your chest in the morning — call it “freedom,” brought to you from the good people of China, folks who truly care about the environment and always make sure products are safe for you to use. But hey, why think about any of that. You saved a buck, and that is all that matters. Marion, you learned something today? I doubt it. That would require the capacity to not believe you already know everything about everything.
4 July 2008
at 9:10 p.m.

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labmonkey (Anonymous) says…

Beatrice says:”Just ignore that wheeze you'll find in your chest in the morning - call it “freedom,” brought to you from the good people of China, folks who truly care about the environment and always make sure products are safe for you to use.”I hope like hell you don't shop at Wal-Mart, because you would lose what little credibility you have.
4 July 2008
at 10:56 p.m.

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notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

What can I say, bea, apparently you spend a lot more time listening to OReilly than I do.”So your argument about this story is, why bother about the environment because it might require spending a bit more.”Well, only to those whose reading comprehension is as poor as yours is. Maybe the “suddenly” preceding “harmful to the environment,” not to mention the rest of the post (e.g. when I said “you're so quick to swallow this garbage”) might have given you a clue that I don't buy into the little bit of idiocy that fireworks are worse than dirty bombs. But hey, I suppose if you're going to compare them to meth labs, you've already bought into it. Enjoy your kool-aid, dearie.
4 July 2008
at 11:29 p.m.

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justfornow (Anonymous) says…

This is why I vote Republican…. because the Democrats have been hijacked by aliens from outer space or one's who have done a ton of acid. Stupid Liberals
4 July 2008
at 11:59 p.m.

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denak (Anonymous) says…

Who cares, it is just one day! Let us have some fun celebrating.
5 July 2008
at 12:29 a.m.

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Defender (Anonymous) says…

Wow, what a crybaby moron. We typically only celebrate ONE holiday a year with fireworks. Go cry somewhere else, sniveling baby.
5 July 2008
at 1:37 a.m.

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KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

One day a year isn't going to kill you, if it is perhaps you should stay home. Tradition is a need when 1 out of every 5 school kids don't know why the Fourth is celebrated.

5 July 2008
at 6:41 a.m.

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merrill (Anonymous) says…

Not to mention that some pets become nervous wrecks for the next 6-7 days. Not much fun for the owners either. Should pet owners have to purchase prescription drugs for this event in order that pets can remain sane? BTW people shoot off fireworks for at least 6-7 days. The LPD cannot possible manage complaints with no teeth in a law.