Fireworks: when magic harms nature

It’s the highlight of the show. Each year the celebrations of July 14, French National Day, end with the traditional fireworks display. But behind the sparks and detonations, a polluting practice that threatens nature.

The danger is too high. In a context marked by heat waves and drought, several dozen French cities had to resolve to cancel their fireworks due to the risk of fire. In Nîmes, Alès or Aubagne, the shows scheduled for July 14 have been canceled.

The threat is not new. In 2019, for the same reasons, the Hérault prefecture in southeastern France canceled the fireworks that were to be set off on August 15.

For pyrotechnicians, on the other hand, if the danger exists it is possible to mitigate it by correctly choosing the types of fires used and the place of the show, as the information site pointed out. Reporterre.

An explosive cocktail for health and the environment?

Lithium for the red fireworks, chlorine for the green and copper for the blue, it is a potentially harmful cocktail that is released with each spectacle into the air, water and on the ground. With the consequence, effects on human health and the environment that we still know little about.

Atom Francethe Federation of Approved Air Quality Monitoring Associations indicates, for example, that copper contamination could lead to serious skin problems.

Phosphorus, also massively used in fireworks, would lead to oxygen depletion of waters and an imbalance of local ecosystems.

At sea, divers recover every year remains of mortar or debris from rockets, dangerous for the local fauna and flora. It is estimated that 10 and 20% of waste is never picked up.

+42% particles after a firework

Across the Atlantic also we wonder. In 2015, American researchers published a study in the revue Science Direct. They measured the level of fine particles in the air after the July 4 National Day. Result: during the hour following the fireworks, the level of particles increased by 42% and returned to normal from the following day.

Atmo France tempers and clarifies “if a single firework does not have devastating consequences on the environment, it is the repetition of these shows that can lead to significant contamination“.

She adds relying on the work of theSwiss Federal Office for the Environment“in annual proportion, the pollution due to fireworks is less than that linked to other sources, such as road traffic”.

endangered birds

Added to this invisible pollution are sometimes fatal consequences for birds. Stress, collisions, abandonment of nests, they are particularly exposed during fireworks. In Rome on January 1, 2021, dozens of birds were killed following the annual pyrotechnic show.

For several years, the association Paris animals Zoopolis challenges the mayor of Paris on the suffering inflicted on animals on December 31 and July 14. She asks for “less violent” and less noisy rockets.

Eco-responsible fireworks

Faced with criticism, pyrotechnicians are trying to adapt and find more ecological alternatives. Modern fireworks now use compressed air to propel rockets.

Like Bordeaux, some cities impose the use of cardboard to wrap lights. Exit plastic and aluminum.

Others sometimes opt for more radical solutions. In the Rhône, a decree provides for the prohibition of fireworks according to the level of pollution in the department. Last June, that of the city of Fontaines-sur-Saonenorth of Lyon, planned for the music festival had thus been banned.

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