--- title: Fourth of July Fireworks Pollution: Study Shows Holiday Air Pollution description: Fireworks on the Fourth of July dramatically increase air pollution, boosting exposure to potentially dangerous pollutants for millions canonical: https://time.com/3943702/fourth-of-july-fireworks-pollution/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-02T14:29:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:41.398Z article:section: Health og:title: How Fireworks Pollution Could Be Hurting Your Health og:description: Fireworks on the Fourth of July dramatically increase air pollution, boosting exposure to potentially dangerous pollutants for millions og:url: https://time.com/3943702/fourth-of-july-fireworks-pollution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcae348849c727d02/69885973cd684834fa0a0a55/fireworks-fourth-of-july.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2048 og:image:height: 1152 og:image:alt: fourth of july fireworks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Fireworks Pollution Could Be Hurting Your Health twitter:description: Fireworks on the Fourth of July dramatically increase air pollution, boosting exposure to potentially dangerous pollutants for millions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcae348849c727d02/69885973cd684834fa0a0a55/fireworks-fourth-of-july.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Fireworks Pollution Could Be Hurting Your Health > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=b06404a2-2818-4c1b-80db-1698a05a9328&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 2, 2015 2:29 PM UTC  Illuminated Firework Display Against Clear Sky At Night Illuminated Firework Display Against Clear Sky At Night Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 2, 2015 2:29 PM UTC Fireworks on the Fourth of July dramatically increase air pollution, boosting exposure to potentially dangerous pollutants for millions of onlookers, according to a recent [study](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231015301369) in the journal _Atmospheric Environment._ “When people think of air pollution, they think of other kinds of things—smoke stacks, automobile exhaust pipes, construction sites,” says study author Dian J. Seidel, senior scientist for climate measurements at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “I don’t think most people think of fireworks.” The level of particulate matter, or small pollutants like dust, dirt and soot present in the air, increased by 42% on average across the U.S. on the Fourth of July, according to the study. Air conditions are at their worst between 9 and to 10 p.m. on the day of the holiday. The researchers, who looked at data from 315 sites across the country, found that ten of the sites met a threshold deemed unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when sustained for a prolonged period of time. Extended exposure to particulate matter can lead to coughing, wheezing and even lead to an early death for people with pre-existing conditions like heart or lung disease, [according to](http://www.epa.gov/pm/fastfacts.html) the EPA. Not all fireworks are created equal, and a number of factors—including weather patterns, location of the fireworks and the size and number of shows—may determine levels of firework pollution, according to Seidel. One site in Ogden, UT, saw nearly a five-fold increase in particulate matter on the Fourth compared to an average day. The researchers also found that many of the most-polluted sites coincide with the country’s most populous metropolitan areas. Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, for example, all experienced levels of particulate matter that exceeded the EPA’s safety threshold. ### Photos From 'America's First Family of Fireworks'  Burj Khalifa, Dubai. December, 2013. Fireworks by Grucci  Liberty State Park, New Jersey. July, 2014 Fireworks by Grucci  Liberty Island, New York. October, 2002. Fireworks by Grucci  Washington, DC. January, 2005. Fireworks by Grucci  Oswego, New York. July, 2013 Fireworks by Grucci  Baltimore, Maryland. September, 2014 Fireworks by Grucci  Salt Lake City, Utah. February, 2002 Fireworks by Grucci  Palm Jumeirah, Dubai. December 2013. Fireworks by Grucci Avoiding firework pollution can be difficult, if not impossible, health experts say. People in the immediate vicinity of fireworks will experience the most pollution. From there, the particles will disperse throughout the area, hardly leaving any place untouched. People sitting downwind from the fireworks will receive the brunt of pollution, says Joel Schwartz, a professor of environmental epidemiology at Harvard University. Indeed, the EPA advises children and the elderly, along with people with heart disease, asthma and other lung diseases, to consider watching upwind from fireworks. But given how long particles linger, it may be difficult to avoid firework pollution altogether if you live in the vicinity of a fireworks show. “Particles tend to stay suspended in the air for days,” says Schwartz. “They’re going to drift whichever way the winds goes, so it’s not just going to be the people sitting in the park watching the fireworks.” But while the increase in pollution due to fireworks may sound frightening, most public health experts say those levels would need to be sustained for much longer before widespread health problems emerge. The EPA’s rules “discount” particulate matter from fireworks when evaluating dangerous pollution levels, according to a statement from an agency spokesperson. “It’s one day,” says Schwartz. “Your risk went up a little bit, but I don’t think it’s a major public health issue.” In fact, even Seidel says she’s planning to watch the fireworks this year. “Yes, I will be watching,” she told TIME, “from a safe distance and upwind.” _Read next:_ [_Somebody Flew a Drone Into a Fireworks Display and This Is What Happened_](http://time.com/2957348/fireworks-drone/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3943702/fourth-of-july-fireworks-pollution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3943702/fourth-of-july-fireworks-pollution/"},"headline":"How Fireworks Pollution Could Be Hurting Your Health","datePublished":"2015-07-02T14:29:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:41.398Z","description":"Levels of tiny pollutants are 42% higher on the holiday than on a typical day, one study says","url":"https://time.com/3943702/fourth-of-july-fireworks-pollution/","keywords":["toxins","fireworks","fourth of july","independence day"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcae348849c727d02/69885973cd684834fa0a0a55/fireworks-fourth-of-july.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcae348849c727d02/69885973cd684834fa0a0a55/fireworks-fourth-of-july.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"fourth of july fireworks","caption":"fourth of july fireworks","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/toxins/","name":"toxins"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3943702/fourth-of-july-fireworks-pollution/","name":"How Fireworks Pollution Could Be Hurting Your Health"}}]}] ```