Are fireworks a hazard for respiratory health?

Potential impact of fireworks on respiratory health

The world-wide use of fireworks with their consequent detrimental effect on the air quality is widely recognized with elevated ambient air levels of particulate matter and its several metallic components and gases identified in several studies carried out during such events. Exposed individuals may be at risk following inhalation of such produced pollutants. This review focuses on the impact of...

A fireworks model for Gamma-Ray Bursts

The energetics of the long duration GRB phenomenon is compared with models of a rotating Black Hole (BH) in a strong magnetic field generated by an accreting torus. A rough estimate of the energy extracted from a rotating BH with the Blandford-Znajek mechanism is obtained with a very simple assumption: an inelastic collision between the rotating BH and the torus. The GRB energy emission is attr...

Mercury as a health hazard.

Pink disease has virtually disappeared since teething powders were withdrawn. We describe a case in a boy who was exposed to metallic mercury vapour. We discuss the potential health hazard of spilled elemental mercury in the house and the difficulties of removing it from the environment.

A technology shift for a fireworks controller

Fireworks Algorithm for Optimization

Inspired by observing fireworks explosion, a novel swarm intelligence algorithm, called Fireworks Algorithm (FA), is proposed for global optimization of complex functions. In the proposed FA, two types of explosion (search) processes are employed, and the mechanisms for keeping diversity of sparks are also well designed. In order to demonstrate the validation of the FA, a number of experiments ...