11/04/2007
Whether Noisy or Noiseless, Crackers are Noxious
Light-Based Fireworks May Reduce Noise Pollution, But They Poison The Air Just Like Sound-Making Ones.
If you are planning to reduce the din on your children’s and neighbours’ ears this Diwali by buying your kids some noiseless, lightbased firecrackers, then take note: though you may be reducing noise pollution, you may not be helping control air pollution.While there has been a concerted effort over the past few years to reduce noise pollution by opting for lightbased fireworks, the authorities have not paid attention to the poisonous contents of both noisy or noiseless crackers, according to Sumaira Abdulali, founder-president of the NGO Awaaz Foundation.
Sample this: following Diwali celebrations last year, Awaaz conducted tests of air pollution at Wadala and discovered huge amounts of metals in the air. There were large quantities of Respiratory Particulate Matter (RPM) of aluminium, sodium, copper, zinc, lead and potassium in the air (see box).
Even the practice of leaving the city during Diwali is no remedy, because the RPM can stay in the air for weeks, doctors said.
“This metal content in the atmosphere is due to the combined effect of both the light-based and sound-based firecrackers,’’ said Abdulali.
While the authorities have cracked down on noise levels by specifiying decibel levels for fireworks and having a 10pm noise deadline, a similar crackdown on poisons in fireworks is yet to materialise. The government has yet to come out with guidelines for the permissible limits of metals in crackers. Abdulali said she asked the central government’s explosives department for details under the Right to Information Act about the permissible limits of metals in crackers. “The department gave an evasive reply, saying giving the information would violate proprietary rules,’’ she said. Such rules protect the commercial interests of private proprietors, like fireworks manufacturers.
Activists said that every sparkler or ‘anar’ (fountain) that is lit poisons the air and all who breathe it due to the noxious metals released. Noiseless crackers like sparklers emanate a white light because they have a large amount of aluminium, while the green
colour in an ‘anar’ is due to
a large amount of copper it contains. “Each colour that a lightbased cracker emanates is due to the metal content that forms one of its basic ingredients,’’ said Abdulali. Common noisy crackers—like sutli bombs, Laxmi bombs, phatakra strings and rockets—also pollute the air.
Most disturbing is the increase in the atmosphere of heavy metals like lead. Studies show that the heavy metals remain in the atmosphere for long and then get oxidised before entering the food chain through vegetables and fish.
“Mumbaikars think they can escape the pollution by leaving the city for a few days, but they do not realise they will be eating food laden with metals,’’ Abdulali said.
“Firecrackers have noxious elements like lead and cadmium and generate fumes like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which are hazards,’’ said Dr Hasnain Patel, who has a done a five-year study on the impact of heavy metals and toxic fumes. He said that apart from allergies and respiratory ailments, metals also damage the
nervous system.
Medical practitioners said there is little awareness about the health hazards of crackers. “There is a 25% increase in asthma patients at OPDs after Diwali. Air pollution rises to 6 to 10 times and the after-effects last for weeks,’’ said Dr Pramod V Niphadkar of St George Hospital. The Asthma and Bronchitis Association of India has requested the public not to burn large anars, chakras or other crackers on staircases and balconies and in small lanes. “Also, reduce the number of crackers burned,’’ said Niphadkar.
AIR SCARE
The Awaaz Foundation Found the following levels of Respiratory Particulate Matter per cubic metre in the air after last Diwali:
Aluminium: 111.08 nanograms/m3 (Causes Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, reduced mental capacity and memory)
Potassium: 19.05 nanogram/m3 (Kidney failure)
Copper: 3.52 nanograms/m3 (Liver problems, epilepsy)
Lead: 3.46 nanogram/m3 (Heart ailments, stroke, haemoglobin levels, affects mood of children)
Zinc: 17.39 nanogram/m3 (Not too harmful, can cause dietary problems) Sodium: 92.06 nanograms/m3 (Not very harmful)
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