Are Environmentally Friendly Fireworks Really “Green” for Air Quality? A Study from the 2019 National Day Fireworks Display in Shenzhen

Fan, Shidong; Li, Ying; Liu, Chanfang

doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c03521

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Other ways of reducing PM 2.5 emissions, such as limiting or controlling the sale of fireworks and the burning of puppets, should be assessed. These options have been analyzed in other regions (e.g., [ 31 , 58 ]). However, we did not find studies based on the approach used in this study.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another option is to manage the corresponding emission factors (the amount of PM 2.5 emitted per unit of pollutant activity), promoting the use of environmentally friendly fireworks. However, this alternative must be accompanied by strict control of the number of used fireworks [ 31 ]. Due to these limitations, it is necessary to study other options to reduce air pollution by New Year’s emissions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simulating PM2.5 Concentrations during New Year in Cuenca, Ecuador: Effects of Advancing the Time of Burning Activities

Parra

Saud

Espinoza

2022

Toxics

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Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is dangerous to human health. At midnight on 31 December, in Ecuadorian cities, people burn puppets and fireworks, emitting high amounts of PM2.5. On 1 January 2022, concentrations between 27.3 and 40.6 µg m−3 (maximum mean over 24 h) were measured in Cuenca, an Andean city located in southern Ecuador; these are higher than 15 µg m−3, the current World Health Organization guideline. We estimated the corresponding PM2.5 emissions and used them as an input to the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem 3.2) model to simulate the change in PM2.5 concentrations, assuming these emissions started at 18:00 LT or 21:00 LT on 31 December 2021. On average, PM2.5 concentrations decreased by 51.4% and 33.2%. Similar modeling exercises were completed for 2016 to 2021, providing mean decreases between 21.4% and 61.0% if emissions started at 18:00 LT. Lower mean reductions, between 2.3% and 40.7%, or even local increases, were computed for emissions beginning at 21:00 LT. Reductions occurred through better atmospheric conditions to disperse PM2.5 compared to midnight. Advancing the burning time can help reduce the health effects of PM2.5 emissions on 31 December.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating PM2.5 Concentrations during New Year in Cuenca, Ecuador: Effects of Advancing the Time of Burning Activities

Parra

Saud

Espinoza

2022

Toxics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…'Eco-friendly' fireworks, which do not use perchlorate and have lower levels of heavy metals, do exist (Fan et al 2021); the problem lies in their higher cost of manufacturing (Palaneeswari and Muthulakshmi 2012). The future of 'firework' displays may lie in the use of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles.…”

Section: Suggestionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not just a flash in the pan: short and long term impacts of fireworks on the environment

Bateman

Gilson

Bradshaw

2023

Pacific Conserv. Biol.

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Fireworks are used globally, mostly for recreational purposes, despite overwhelming evidence that they negatively affect wildlife, domestic animals, and the environment. Fireworks cause short-term noise and light disturbance, causing distress in domestic animals that may be managed before or after a fireworks event, but impacts to wildlife can be on a much larger scale. The annual timing of some large-scale fireworks events coincides with migratory or reproductive behaviour of wildlife, and thus may have adverse long-term population effects on them. Fireworks residues also contribute significantly to chemical pollution of soil, water, and air, which has implication for human as well as animal health. Modern technological alternatives to traditional fireworksboth 'eco-friendly' fireworks, and reusable drone and laser-based lightshowsprovide safer, 'greener' alternatives that also present a sustainable way forward for maintaining cultural traditions without perpetuating their adverse impacts.

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“…For these sources, policies and standards should be set to limit their emissions. In addition, it is questionable whether the environmentally friendly fireworks currently on the market have a lower impact on the environment (Fan et al, 2021). Thus, manufacturers should be guided toward the development of environmentally friendly fireworks, joss paper, and sacrificial incense in order to reduce emissions.…”

Section: The Implication Of Modifying Related Air Pollution Control P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiyear emissions of carbonaceous aerosols from cooking, fireworks, sacrificial incense, joss paper burning, and barbecue as well as their key driving forces in China

Cheng

Kong²,

Yao³

et al. 2022

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. There has been controversy regarding the air pollutants emitted from sources closely related to the activities of daily life in China, such as cooking, setting off fireworks, sacrificial incense and joss paper burning, and barbecue (which have been named the five missing sources – FMSs), and the extent to which they impact the outdoor air quality. To date, due to the lack of both an activity dataset and emission factors, there have been no estimations of the emission of air pollutants from FMSs. In this work, we have attempted to combine questionnaire data, various statistical data, and data on points of interest to obtain a relatively complete set of activity data. The emission factors (EFs) of carbonaceous aerosols were tested in our lab. Emission inventories of carbonaceous aerosols with a high spatial–temporal resolution for FMSs were then established, and the spatial variation trend and driving forces were discussed. From 2000 to 2018, organic carbon (OC) emissions were in the range of 4268–4919 t. OC emissions from FMSs were between 1.5 ‰ and 2.2 ‰ of the total emissions in China. Black carbon (BC), elemental carbon (EC), and brown carbon (BrC) absorption cross-section (ACSBrC) emissions from FMSs were in the ranges of 22.6–43.9 t, 213–324 t, and 14.7–35.6 Gm2, respectively. Their emissions tended to be concentrated in certain periods and areas. The OC emission intensities in central urban areas were 3.85–50.5 times those in rural areas (due to the high density of human activity), while the ACSBrC emissions in rural regions accounted for 63.0–79.5 % of the total emissions (resulting from uncontrolled fireworks). A mass of fireworks led to much higher ACSBrC and EC emissions on Chinese New Year's Eve, with respective values that were 1444 and 262 times their corresponding yearly averages. Significant (p<0.01) correlations between the population's income and pollutant emissions were also found: these correlations were positive (r=0.94) and negative (r=-0.94) for urban and rural regions, respectively, indicating the necessity to regulate residents' lifestyles and increase residents' income in respective urban and rural regions. This study provides firsthand data to identify emissions, variation trends, and impacting factors from the FMSs. This is helpful for modeling works on air quality, the climate effect, and human health risks during specific periods or in specific regions as well as for modifying emission control policies. The data compiled in this work can found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19999991.v2 (Cheng et al., 2022).

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Are Environmentally Friendly Fireworks Really “Green” for Air Quality? A Study from the 2019 National Day Fireworks Display in Shenzhen

Cited by 15 publications

References 42 publications

Simulating PM2.5 Concentrations during New Year in Cuenca, Ecuador: Effects of Advancing the Time of Burning Activities

Simulating PM2.5 Concentrations during New Year in Cuenca, Ecuador: Effects of Advancing the Time of Burning Activities

Not just a flash in the pan: short and long term impacts of fireworks on the environment

Multiyear emissions of carbonaceous aerosols from cooking, fireworks, sacrificial incense, joss paper burning, and barbecue as well as their key driving forces in China

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