Firework smoke causes health concerns

Posted By: Bayley Bischof Channel 8 Eyewitness News

Bright lights and loud pops of sound fill the city the night of the Fourth of July.

This can cause concern for some, said Scot Holmes with the Lancaster County Health Department.

He said the smoke that comes after fireworks can cause serious health issues.

"Smokes have very tiny particulates that when you breathe them in get deep in your lungs,” Holmes said.

He says you need to worry if you have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or anyone with general respiratory or heart problems.

"If you have asthma you can have an asthma attack that can put you in the hospital,” Holmes said. “Someone with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, they may have to use their inhaler more often in order to breathe, and someone with heart disease or underlying heart disease they may not know about can cause angina, and potentially cause heart attack."

If you have any of these health issues, you should stay inside if there’s heavy smoke.

He says the most dangerous time is around midnight.

"Once you get closer to midnight there’s more and more fireworks that go off, and that smoke, if there’s not good wind it will stick around quite a while in the community,” Holmes said.

Co–owner of Crazy Cracker Fireworks Scott Chenoweth says anytime you’re lighting fireworks you should stand away from the smoke, even if you don’t have health concerns.

He also warns you about other dangers relating to fireworks.

"Use them as they’re intended,” Chenoweth said. “Don’t take them apart, recreate them, try to make something new out of them, that’s one thing. And never hold a firework."

The best way to avoid any of these problems is just to be aware of your surroundings, this will ensure that you have a fun, and safe, Fourth of July.