“When people think of air pollution, they think of other kinds of things-smoke stacks, automobile exhaust pipes, construction sites”, says study author Dian J. Without fail, they found that from around 9 to 10 p.m. each Independence Day, concentrations of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, surged, teetering on the edge of the upper limit of what the EPA considers to be safe (and in some locations, wildly surpassing it).
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Such levels explode after a fireworks show, especially in the United States where approximately 14,000 fireworks displays occur on July 4. PM.25 levels increased the average by 370 percent on July 4 and at 10 p.m. levels increased by over 3700 percent. The data came from 315 measuring sites spanning 15 years, for the first time quantifying the increase in pollution.
“The study is also another wake-up call for those who may be particularly sensitive to the effects of fine particulate matter”, she said. [50 Fabulous 4th of July Facts: History of Independence]. “These results will help improve air-quality predictions, which now don’t account for fireworks as a source of air pollution”. Those levels drop back to normal by noon on July 5.
The scientists wanted to study the pollution because the microscopic PM2.5 particles affect health because they travel deep into a person’s respiratory tract, entering the lungs. It could also be known for increased levels of particulate matter.
Those sensitive to particulate matter pollution could include people with heart or lung diseases, older adults and children, the agency reports.
The NOAA study looked at concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at over 300 US air quality monitoring stations between the years of 1999 and 2013, are reported by The Washington Post. Average concentrations over the 24-hour period starting at 8 p.m. on July 4 are also 42 percent greater than on the days preceding and following the holiday.
The USA Environmental Protection Agency has more on the health effects of particulate matter.
Health officials have suggested those who are affected by the particles must watch fireworks from upwind.
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Erin Hatfield, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, said the agency doesn’t keep data on fine particulate matter associated with fireworks shows. “People with asthma should follow their asthma action plans and be sure to have their quick relief medicine handy”, the NOAA study notes.
