To Burst or Not to Burst?

To burst or not to burst?’ is a question many young humans might be asking as the patakha (firecracker) season begins. Teachers and doctors tend to advice against firecrackers but there’s always a paan-chewing uncle or a macho friend who’ll bully you kids into becoming enthusiastic arsonists. It’s usually a tough choice to make. Some additional information is always a good help in firming up ones’ resolutions. Therefore, let's throw some light on the history, chemistry, and eco-friendliness of patakhas.

Where have firecrackers come from?

Many historians believe that fireworks were originally developed around 2nd century BC in ancient China. Among the first, natural, so-called ‘firecrackers’ were bamboo stalks. When thrown in a fire, the hollow air pockets within the bamboo pipes would overheat and explode with a bang.

But the patakhas we know today are the products of some 10th-century Chinese alchemist, messing up with his/her cooking recipe. This person caused a blast by mixing potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. The resultant black, flaky powder became famous as ‘gunpowder’. Soon, it was poured into hollowed-out bamboo sticks, and later into stiff paper tubes, forming the first human-made fireworks.

These dangerous yet sparkly inventions travelled through the Silk Route till Europe in the 13th century. And by the next two centuries, they were widely burst for religious festivals and public entertainment.

The patakha technology reached India by the 15th century. Their earliest mention is in the notes of Abdur Razzaq, the Timurid ambassador to the Vijayanagar Empire, in 1443 AD. He described how firecrackers adorned the Mahanavami celebrations in this south Indian empire. Later, the Mughals popularised them in north India but these were only for royal recreation.

Firecrackers embellished Diwali evenings not likely before the 18th century, when Maratha rulers organised, firework shows for general public. Mass production of patakhas started only when the first fireworks factory was installed in Kolkata in the 19th century. But the real uptake on flashing fireworks took place after Independence. By the 1950-60s, India’s firecracker manufacturing hub shifted southwards to Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, which still continues to dazzle much of our festivities. To read more about the famous fireworks industry in Sivakasi, read the box given above.

Until the 1990s, the costliness of patakhas prevented people from buying them en masse for Diwali, Eid, or New Years. But as the old adage goes, ‘excess of anything is bad,’ when household incomes rose and firecracker vendors became a roadside phenomenon, the crackers quickly turned into a toxic addiction.

How toxic???

Firecrackers are basically a package of gunpower with additional metallic compounds to provide glitter to their smoke. Burning them releases toxic gases and particulate residues. These things are not good for your health or the environment. Multiple studies have established both short-term and long-term impact of inhaling these chemicals on humans, animals, and even plants. In humans, these range from irritation of eye, nose, and throat to severe development disorders among kids. Among adults, it can lead to serious complications with heart, respiratory and nervous disorders.

Overloading air!

If burst in a small quantity, the toxins released by firecrackers get diluted in the atmosphere, which reduces their adverse impact. But on festivals like Diwali when everyone blasts truck-loads of them that too simultaneously, then instead of dilution a cataclysmic concentration occurs. Simply meaning, too many pollutants get accumulated in the air in one place quickly. Scientists studying air pollution on Diwali have found that carbon monoxide, a lethal gas, multiplies manifold above the safe­­-standard prescribed by the government and WHO. Concentrations of sulphate, potassium, aluminum, sodium, and azide ions also shoot 2-5 times higher than normal on festival days. Particulate pollution, especially PM2.5 levels, skyrocket (pun intended) in Diwali’s aftermath in most cities. (PM means ‘particulate matter,’ i.e. tiny dust. PM2.5 means particle measuring 2.5 micrometres, which is barely 3 per cent of your hair’s diameter!) Despite banning firecrackers, the daily PM2.5 levels in Delhi post-Diwali last year reached 440 µg/m3 (‘µg’ means micrograms). This was almost 30-times the maximum daily exposure recommended by WHO. In fact, WHO says that our 24-hour average exposures should not exceed 15 µg/m3 . The air in Delhi became so foul after Diwali 2017 that even birds dropped dead from the sky, indicating a warning from the heavens. This apocalyptic condition arose because of the cold and calm weather during November-December. Such weather traps pollution and spikes the toxin concentrations much more than what would happen during summer or monsoon.

What about the green firecrackers?

In 2019, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced that it will develop ‘green crackers’ which will reduce particulate emissions by 30 per cent. Further, these crackers will produce the same light and sound effect as traditional fireworks do. Now, this claim is dubious as there is no benchmark for how much particulates traditional fireworks emit to credibly measure any reduction in emissions. Not just that, this claim is also steeped in secrecy as CSIR signed Non-Disclosure Agreements with the patakha manufacturers before it shared its magic formula with them. Moreover, even if we assume that this formula is effective, a 30 per cent emission reduction is too little to drumbeat about given the pollution on Diwali, which exceeds the set standards by as much as 3,000 per cent! Anyway, two years on, no scientific study has confirmed their ‘green’ claims. Most likely, these crackers are only as green as the shiny green wrappers of the deafening Diwali bombs. Or as the US President Joe Biden says, “it’s just malarkey!” (Psst: ‘Malarkey’ means non-sense).

Fire in the belly, not, sky

Festivals and celebrations are about having a good time with our loved ones. There is no need to torch the Nature to achieve this goal. Agreed, some people have been bursting patakhas for ages but these are the same people who burnt a hole in the Earth’s ozone layer and catapulted our future into a climate crisis. Firecrackers are not only toxic to all lifeforms on this planet but also add to greenhouse gases that are causing global warming and climate change. Gen-Z or Zoomers have already initiated a war against many oldies to save the planet through movements like Fridays for Future and Youth for Climate. Now, this begs the question: is it worth abandoning the fight for your future over a night of life-threatening razzmatazz? Zoomers don’t need to and should not follow the steps of Boomers. There are ample ways to celebrate festivals in a peaceful manner. Tell us your creative ideas on how you'd celebrate this year. Meanwhile, have a safe and happy Diwali!

(This was first published in the 1-30 November 2021 edition of the Gobar Times.)