Analysis by MPCB, NGO finds banned metal Barium in ‘green’ firecrackers

MUMBAI: Of 17 varieties of popular firecrackers that were analysed last week for chemical components by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and city-based NGO Awaaz Foundation, 12 were found to contain barium, a toxic metal whose use in firecrackers was banned by the Supreme Court (SC) in 2018.

Barium is used in crackers to produce the colour green in fireworks. It also acts as a stabilising agent to give firecrackers a longer shelf-life. Several of the crackers analysed were also found to contain varying amounts of arsenic, lead, sulphur and chlorine, which have been banned under the Centre’s Hazardous Chemical Rules.

The commercially available crackers were randomly selected by Awaaz Foundation and sent to independent laboratory in the city for chemical analysis.

Worryingly, many of these brands of firecrackers are being sold in the market as ‘green crackers’ – here, green refers to their apparent eco-friendliness -- based on criteria developed by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). What’s more, the packaging of the firecrackers did not state that barium was one of the ingredients, environmentalist and convenor of the Awaaz Foundation Sumaira Abdulali, said.

HT Barium is used to produce the green colour in fireworks.