As beautiful bursts of red, blue, green and yellow shoot up into the air every Fourth of July, many people forget the effect fireworks can have on the environment.Fireworks spew out not only dust and smoke, but also heavy metals, carbon monoxide and sulfur oxides. The shades of green are produced by barium compounds that can cause heart and lung problems, according to Thomas Klaptke, a professor at University of Munich in Germany.
While fireworks are explosive and not environmentally safe to begin with, there is hope. Researchers are working to find a way to produce environmentally safe fireworks at an affordable price.
The Frederick city fireworks for the Fourth of July will be put on by Fireworks Production. The company does not have perchlorate-free or low-smoke fireworks but is researching them for possible use in the next few years. The fireworks show can be seen from Baker Park starting at about 9 p.m. Saturday.
"Many people have become more concerned about the safety and performance of fireworks," said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. "If the fireworks launch correctly, all the chemicals are consumed. The problem lies when the fireworks are not used correctly."
Darren Naud and Michael Hiskey decided to find a way to create eco-friendly fireworks nine years ago, when they founded DMD Systems. Since then, the company, based in Los Alamos, N.M., has created two branches of fireworks: low smoke and perchlorate-free.
The low-smoke fireworks have been used by large amusement parks to contain commercial fireworks displays without disturbing neighbors. The perchlorate-free fireworks are popular for use in indoor venues.
Perchlorate has been one of the red flags for fireworks in recent history. The naturally occurring salt has been identified as a potential health hazard. Some studies suggest it can damage the thyroid gland.
In 2002, a town in California shut down more than 22 wells contaminated by groundwater plumes of perchlorate spreading from two sites where fireworks and other products had been manufactured years ago.
"Traditional fireworks are very unclean and burn very orange, and in order to make the color, you need to dump in lots of metals," Naud said. "The fireworks we are producing are very clean, meaning it's very easy to color (them), creating clear and bright displays."
These fireworks will not be marketed on a large scale until they become more affordable. According to the pyrotechnics association, 98 percent of fireworks being used at Fourth of July celebrations come from China. Here they can be produced for nickels a day, Naud said.
Fireworks are becoming more inconvenient for the Chinese to export because they are hazardous material to transport to the United States, Naud said. He thinks the fireworks market could change soon.
"Chinese fireworks are cheap, but perform badly," Naud said. "Fireworks could become a domestic product, and if that happens, shows will become in closer proximity."
Naud and his company are not the only ones working to making more eco-friendly fireworks. In 2004, Disney debuted "air-launch technology."
The technology is used for Disney's nightly fireworks shows at its resort in California. The fireworks are launched using compressed air rather than gunpowder, significantly reducing smoke and other pollutants.
"The technology eliminates the initial noise when the fireworks are let off," Heckman said. "It is awesome for a venue using the same fireworks every day, but I don't see it becoming a trend for other firework uses."
Most experts believe the level of pollution from shooting off fireworks outdoors a couple of times per year is relatively small, but the extent of the problem has not been fully examined.
As for this Fourth of July, these new innovations will not be in place for Frederick , but could be in the near future.
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