An article entitled, "Friendlier Fire" from the July 2009 National Geographic by Catherine L. Barker justifies the Environmental Protection Agency's concern about perchlorate exposure and indicates that this is a probable situation. While the risk is not the fireworks itself, it is a toxic chemical that they contain. This toxin, perchlorate, provides the necessary oxygen that serves in burning the fuel in these traditional astheticly pleasing displays. The danger is that this toxin could contaminate drinking water (Barker).
When the most popular holiday in the United States for shooting off fireworks, July 4th, rolls around, where does the public flock to? The lake. After a firework goes off, the perchlorate chemical can end up in the water. This perchlorate-contaminated water could end up being your next glass of drinking water. A study concerning perchlorate levels in an Oklahoma lake spanning from 2004 to 2006 showed a significant spike after a traditional fireworks show. This spike took 20-80 days to stabilize. Depending on how warm the water is, this could take even longer (Barker).
So, the question in every reader's mind, how does perchlorate affect my health? Barker stated that research has shown perchlorate exposure and ingestion affects the ability of the thyroid to produce growth hormones that are needed. This reaction is primarily shown in children and pregnant women (Barker).
In a peer-reviewed journal, Paul M. Sutton supports this health-violating argument. Sutton uses supporting statistics to make his case, stating that "6800 public drinking water sources in California have been tested for perchlorate contamnation as of December 2004. Of these sources, 361 tested positive for perchlorate." He contines with research statistics that identify other parts of the country that are proven to be affected by this toxin (Sutton).
Fortunately, we don't have to stop the source of entertainment fireworks provide. There are some solutions to this hazardous consequence:
1. Ex-Situ Biotreatement: This requires using bacteria to reduce the amount of perchlorate. While effective, this is a costly treatment that requires the pumping of the ground water (Sutton).
2. Hydrogen-Based Membrane Biofilm Reactor: Jinwook Chung, Robert Nerenberg, and Bruce E. Rittmann's article concerning ion exchange for treating perchlorate in drinking water indicates that this mechanism eliminates the disadvantage of the necessary use of a brine, "producing wastes with high concentrations of nitrate, perchlorate, and salt." The MBfR produces harmless products, N2 and Cl-. This ensures the safety of the brine to be reused or disposed of (Chung, Newrenberg, and Rittmann).
3. And my favorite solution, enforce a law regulating perchlorate in fireworks, and use different, safer fireworks. The reason why this hasn't been done is because the perchlorate fireworks are more cost-effective because they are supplied through Chinese imports. Safer fireworks using nitrate-based oxidants instead of toxic perchlorate are a little bit more pricey, but can there really be an unreasonable cost for good health (Barker)?
These solutions are all ones that excell in addressing this situation. It seems that the primary solution is just to do something about it. These affects are going to continue to take place. Funding needs to go into this issue, whether it is funding for ex-situ biotreatment, the Hydrogen-Based Membrane Biofilm Reactor, or funding simply for the purchase of anti-perchlorate fireworks and supporting legislation. Something needs to be done for the vast population of firework lovers who desire to protect the function of their thyroids.
Drinking water photo taken from:
http://news.upickreviews.com/truth-about-8-glasses-water
Firework photo taken from:
http://www.pdphoto.org/picturedetail.pho?mat=&pg=8148
Hydrogen-Based Membrane Biofilm Reactor photo taken from:
http://www.wateronline.com/articlemvc/special-feature-membrane-ro-and-desalination-0001
Baker, C. (2009). Friendlier Fire. Retrieved September 15, 2010, from the National Geographic Magazine website:
http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/06/frienlier-fire-.html
Sutton, P. (2006). Bioreactor Configurations for Ex-Situ Treatment of Perchlorate: A review. Retrieved September 15, 2010, from:
Chung, J., Nerenberg, R., Rittmann, B. Evaluation for Biological Reduction of Nitrate and Perchlorate in Brine Water Using the Hydrogen-Based Membrane Biofilm Reactor. Retrieved September 15, 2010, from:
