Fireworks in Michigan exacerbate air quality problems – Planet Detroit

Fireworks season is underway in Michigan. With fireworks in Detroit next week and the Fourth of July just around the corner, Detroiters have reason to be excited — or perhaps worried if they’re sensitive to air pollution.

Although air pollution from fireworks is short-lived, it can be significant and pose a risk to people with asthma, COPD or other health problems. Research shows that fireworks can cause a 42 percent increase in PM2.5 pollution, leading to problems with industrial pollution or wildfire smoke. Fireworks also produce significant amounts of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and metals such as aluminum and cadmium.

Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter is linked to increased infant mortality, heart attacks, strokes and hospitalizations for COPD or asthma attacks. Nationally, the number of days classified by the government’s air quality index as “very unhealthy” or “hazardous” has increased dramatically over the past decade, a change largely due to PM2.5 from wildfires.

Air pollution peaks on July 4

Sarah Craft, director of partnerships at JustAir, which has air monitoring networks in Detroit, Grand Rapids and other cities, said the company’s air monitors in Grand Rapids detected significantly higher PM2.5 levels around July 4 last year. The city had high PM2.5 levels all summer because of the wildfires in Canada. But Craft said the period around the holiday was still some of the worst pollution of the summer.

Although Michigan experienced several periods of wildfire smoke in 2023, state regulators did not issue air quality alerts for PM 2.5 from July 3 to July 6. However, Craft said a monitor on Hall Street in Grand Rapids’ 49507 ZIP code, a pollution hotspot, showed a particulate matter reading above the federal air quality standard for PM2.5 for the entire period between 9 p.m. July 3 and 9 p.m. July 6.

According to the JustAir monitor, PM2.5 levels rose above 250 micrograms per cubic meter on the evening of July 4, meaning pollution may have reached the AQI’s “dangerous” level, the highest category on the scale.

In contrast, a meter on Michigan Street in downtown Grand Rapids recorded air levels on July 4 that were “unhealthy for sensitive” groups, falling below the federal limit for PM 2.5 during the three-day period. Research in California showed that PM 2.5 pollution from fireworks was nearly twice as high in low-income neighborhoods and in communities of color.

How to deal with asthma during fireworks

State monitors typically detect a spike in air pollution on the evening of July 4. But that spike lasts only a few hours, according to Alec Kownacki, a meteorologist with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s Air Quality Division. JustAir’s Hall St. monitor showed a similar pattern: PM 2.5 levels peaked around 11 p.m. on July 4 and then dropped precipitously, though pollution remained high for the next two days.

The American Lung Association recommends that asthmatics watch fireworks from a distance, stay downwind of the smoke, go indoors if there is heavy smoke, and have an emergency spray on hand.

Michigan residents can check their air quality on the government website airnow.gov or through neighborhood monitors offered through JustAir’s app or PurpleAir’s online map.

The government website is considered the gold standard for accuracy, but private monitoring networks can provide a more accurate picture of air quality. When pollution is high, experts advise staying in air-conditioned indoor spaces and wearing an N95 or KN95 mask outdoors.