BYU study shows the pollution effects of fireworks linger even after the lights and booms fade

Each July, as Utahns celebrate Independence Day and Pioneer Day, fireworks light up the sky. But more than dazzling lights and thunderous explosions fill the air.

There’s also a less noticeable but more sinister phenomenon taking place:

Air pollution.

New research from Brigham Young University examines air quality data collected for three years from the roof of the Eyring Science Center on the school’s Provo campus. The study provides new insight into what exactly we breathe in each July.

“We know that there’s particulate matter pollution from fireworks,” BYU environmental geology professor Greg Carling said. “But on top of that, we’re able to see what’s in that particulate matter.”

A well-established connection

The link between bad air and fireworks is well established. Last year, the day after July Fourth, Utah County’s particulate pollution levels were five times higher than average. For its part, Salt Lake City ditched traditional fireworks — out of wildfire and air quality concerns — in favor of a laser light show in 2022 and a drone display last year and this week.

“These fireworks really do impact our air quality,” Carling said, at least “for short periods of time.”

The new BYU study found that fireworks emit barium and copper.

“The surprising thing from our study,” Carling said, “was each year in July, we’d see these spikes in metal concentrations that we were able to relate to fireworks.”

Some studies have discovered that exposure to barium could result in lung damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although the research is somewhat mixed. And exposure to copper fumes can cause upper respiratory tract irritation.

“These health impacts,” Carling explained, “are most likely going to affect younger children, older adults or people with preexisting health conditions.”

What can be done to help?

“We already have so many air quality issues in the Wasatch Front that we’re trying to deal with,” Carling said. “Fireworks are one more, but I think fireworks would be kind of the easiest one to deal with from a legislation perspective.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in 2021 that he could not issue a statewide ban on fireworks.

“What I was told is that while we can suspend statutes in a case of emergency, we can’t alter the statute,” he said at the time. “That doesn’t allow me the authority to ban fireworks.”

Cox said only the Legislature could enact stricter bans, and so far lawmakers hadn’t shown interest in doing so.

There is some debate about whether local governments can ban fireworks. Boundaries for no-fireworks zones must be “as close as is practical to the defined hazardous area.” Fireworks are restricted in most of Salt Lake City.

In lieu of state restrictions, Carling said, individuals can protect their health by not setting off personal fireworks and exposing their lungs to particulate matter at close range.

“If people wanted to try to avoid the worst impacts,” the BYU professor said, “maybe just go to your city fireworks show.”