April 7, 2005 -- Discovering the true perils of fireworks. After having his house in the UK assaulted with rockets, the writer set out to find the true state of firework safety. The facts are alarming, and, this is after leaving out all the cases of blinding, burning and loss of fingers from the abuse of smaller fireworks.
“ What will be the score for Australia?. ”
A large rocket exploding near a window can cause the glass from the window to be driven into a house and straight through a child. The sound from such a rocket exploding close-by can burst eardrums and cause permanent damage to eyes and ears.
Pets can be permanently traumatised and develop the animal kingdom’s version of agoraphobia.
Many so-called pretty fireworks carry a cocktail of chemicals that can cause devastating illnesses and exacerbate existing conditions such as Asthma, ME, MS and other auto-immune diseases. If you are downwind from a firework display then you could absorb arsenic, mercury, lead, dioxins and radio-active barium.
If you analyse some of the big displays in London then you will find that tons of fireworks were used and these produce pollutants in the multiple-tonnage. Pets and inhabitants nearby can receive large doses of these heavy metal contaminants.
Attempts to warn the Government of all the above dangers have been made in the past, with no effect. Fireworks can be beautiful and with some forethought the Government could allocate special sites for displays. This would give people pleasure, help the firework companies keep their image and above all protect people’s health. Instead the Government has turned a blind eye to the problem in the hope that we will forget about it.
Discovering remedies to personal and community problems can be difficult. If you know who is firing fireworks at your house then you can ask a solicitor to write and warn the offenders. If fireworks stress you then the solicitor should point this out. Any further offence can then be classified as aggravated assault. The police will also visit the offenders and warn them about anti-social-behaviour and the possibility of an ASBO being issued.
If you think that big displays could damage your health then consult the council and the environment agency. Above all find an MP that will support proper safety and vote for them.
Recent celebrations may have caused many tons of heavy metal pollution to be released. Here is an extract that should give people a wake up call.
"The Swedish technical magazine New Teknik (October 1999) estimated that tonnes of lead, 60 tonnes of chromium and several kilograms of cadmium will be sprinkled over Sweden during a couple of hours on the coming New Year's Eve. What will be the score for Australia?" asks Elizabeth O'Brien of the LEAD Group.
"Fireworks can contain carcinogenic sulphur-coal compounds and spread an odour of black gunpowder. Radioactive barium makes the green sparkling colour and considerable amounts of strontium are also spread," says O'Brien.
According to New Scientist (3 July, 1999), fireworks also cause dioxin
pollution and blue fireworks release the most dioxins. This is because the
copper responsible for their colour catalyses the formation of the poisons when chlorinated chemicals in fireworks burn, according to the latest issue of Chemosphere (vol.39, p 925).
According to Monica Kauppi of the Heavy Metal Bulletin, "During the
Stockholm Water Festival in 1996, the levels of pollutants in the air was measured before and after the fireworks by an environmental agency. Arsenic levels were doubled and the levels of mercury, cadmium, lead,
copper, zinc and chromium were four to five times elevated.”
Please help secure the future health of our children by actively joining in this debate. We know from the amazing work of Jamie Oliver that it takes a lot to get the Government to do anything to protect the health of our children and to even consider spending a few pennies per child.
For more on heavy metal poisoning please visit the following websites;- www.mercurypoisoned.com
www.melisa.org.
The writer was a specialist in Clinical Analysis for major corporations. He is recovering from mercury poisoning from amalgam dental fillings.
