I have always been somewhat amazed by the disconnect in parents who freak out if their children eat an inorganic candy gummy worm but on the Fourth of July go off to the reservation and buy illegal fireworks full of toxins. That acrid smoke lingering around the launch site has a variety of nasty, mutagenic and cancer -causing metals and chemicals that your kids are breathing lungfulls. The illegal fireworks from the reservation come from China, and the contents are not regulated.
The chemical content of regulated safe and sane fireworks is monitored and even those produce aerosol metals when they burn. Metals such as barium, copper and strontium add colors to the flame of fountains and exploding rockets but do not combust and the tiny particulates are in the smoke. Because of the tiny size of the metals they go deep into your lungs. All of these are shown to cause health issues even in small amounts when inhaled. Also, a lot of these chemicals are soluble in water and so imagine the toxic surge in local lakes as hundreds of pounds of fireworks end up polluting the lake. And we wonder where the frogs went.
The menu of toxins in illegal fireworks from China is huge. Here are just few of them.
Arsenic, strontium, barium nitrate, polychlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans, lead dioxide, mercurous chloride, perchlorate — ammonium and potassium.
Do you really want your children inhaling this stuff? Stay away from unregulated illegal fireworks and help keep your family and your local waterways safe and healthy.
Rob Sandelin
Snohomish
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