40 RESONS TO BAN FIREWORKS.

40 reasons to BAN Firecrackers.

1. People get killed manufacturing fireworks: The mortality rate of gunpowder explosion burns in factory accidents is high

2. Child labour is still used in the manufacture of fireworks (India and China)
 
3. Nearly half of all the fireworks produced in China fail to meet basic quality and safety standards (China Labour Bulletin)

4. Irresponsible and criminal use of fireworks poses a danger to both the people using them and innocent members of the public

5. Firecrackers (25%), rockets (21%), and sparklers (11%) accounted for most of the injuries seen in emergency departments during 2001 (Greene 2002)

6. Children are 11 times more likely to be injured by fireworks
 

7. People who stand too close to the fireworks run a high risk of being harmed
 

8. Fireworks explosions can cause tinnitus and even deafness
 

9. Epileptics can experience seizures
 
10.  People who suffer from asthma experience discomfort
 

11. Bottle rockets are the single greatest cause of eye injuries requiring hospitalization

12. Bottle rockets are particularly dangerous because their flight path is erratic, their fuses are non-standard and their explosive power is enough to turn a 'launch site' bottle or can into shrapnel

13. Sparklers can ignite clothing and hair. Three sparklers burning together create the heat of a blow torch.
 
14. Fireworks harm and kill animals

15. Fireworks have been proven to be detrimental to companion animals and wildlife

16. Using fireworks near animals is both cruel and inhumane as explosive fireworks cause animals immense fear and stress

17. Animals who are too close to firework explosions often suffer significant burns and eye damage

18. Dogs often run and catch thrown fireworks in their mouths believing them to be toys

19. The ears of most animals are considerably more sensitive than the human ear and fireworks can permanently affect their acute sense of hearing

20. Many animals are terrified of these noises and break free or jump fences to try and escape the terror

21. Animals fleeing from fireworks often get lost or killed.  Dogs are  prone to being hit by cars and birds are prone to breaking their necks by flying into buildings

22. A bull trying to escape his pen in response to a fireworks display died after becoming impaled on the fence

23. Dogs are brought to shelters with paws bloody from running or torn skin from tearing through a backyard wooden fence or, worse, crippled from being hit by a car

24.  Most birds fly away in fright and nesting mothers endanger the well-being of nestlings when they sometimes cannot find their own nest upon return

25. Laying hens show extremely low egg production the day after fireworks and the eggs are often malformed (Dr. Ian Duncan, an ethologist at the University of Guelph, Ontario)

26. Waterfowl become entangled in remnants of fireworks that land in waterways and ponds

27. Fish ingest the debris and die, sometimes even causing the deaths of scavenging animals that eat them

28.  After fireworks, wildlife rehabilitators experience an increase in orphaned birds, squirrels, and other small mammals.

29. Even butterflies are at direct risk of becoming disoriented, injured, and killed.
 

30. The combined responses to fireworks of panic and disorientation can result in birds' flying into a building or too far out to sea. (Dr. David Noakes, a zoologist at the University of Guelph, Ontario)

31.  Zoo staff often express particular concerns for their animals' safety.
 
 
32. Fireworks damage and destroy property

33. Fireworks have set fire to buildings
 
34. Fireworks pose a great threat to homes with thatch roofing
 
 
36. Fireworks damage and destroy the environment

37. Fireworks have started grass and forest fires

38. The explosion of fireworks releases poisonous chemicals and particle-laden smoke, contaminating our natural environment

39. Fireworks produce light pollution, noise pollution, air pollution, debris and litter

40.  Fireworks damage the Ozone layer