In a bid to fight air pollution, Science and Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan has tasked the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to come up with a way to make crackers that are “environmentally friendly” and to use science to save jobs in the industry.
Girish Sahni, Director General, CSIR, in a press statement, said: “Several CSIR laboratories have come together and are putting together a robust S&T strategy for development of eco-friendly firecrackers and fireworks. The first phase will cover reduction of pollutants, while future strategies will cover removal of pollutants from the compositions.”
Other than smoke-aggravating partially-burnt paper that sheaths the gunpowder in crackers, metals in fireworks such as strontium and barium are toxic to human and animal health, and the burning process produces other harmful emissions such as polychlorinated hydrocarbons.
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Rakesh Kumar and Santanu Chaudhary, directors, CSIR-NEERI, presented a science plan on Friday.Internationally, research laboratories are working to reduce pollution from firecrackers.
A key ingredient in several crackers is perchlorate and replacing them with nitrogen-rich materials or nitrocellulose could make them burn cleaner and produce less smoke, according to a report in the Chemical & Engineering News, of the American Chemical Society.These however make crackers costlier.