It is that time of year when my poor dog cowers under the bed as the rocket's red glare of fireworks is seen and heard across the country. Perhaps I am stealing from my fellow writer and chemist, Dr. Bloom, but I just wanted to share what I had learned about the chemistry underlying all that color filling our skies.
fireworks
Maybe barbeque and beach trips were modified over the weekend in the face of COVID-19. But surely it's appropriate to have a time-tested cautionary article go with America's birthday.
A weekly look at what's also interesting, even though it didn't make it into Dispatch or onto our website.
It s not the usual statistics we associate with Fourth of July celebrations: but it s important to know that in 2012 there were 18,700 firework-caused injuries, requiring over 7,000 emergency room visits, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In addition, the CPSC notes that in 2011, 36 percent of such injuries occurred in individuals less than 20 years of age. Over half of the injuries were burns.