Pittsburgh’s own fireworks display on the Fourth of July wasn’t the only one mired in a smoky haze.
An analysis released Sunday by IQAir found fireworks celebrations across the country led to sharp spikes in air pollution as Americans marked the nation’s 250th birthday. Air quality maps showed elevated concentrations of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter produced by fireworks smoke — lingering Sunday morning.
PM2.5 particles are microscopic and can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and even reach the brain, according to IQAir. Short-term exposure can irritate the throat and airways, trigger coughing and make breathing more difficult, while prolonged exposure has been linked to more serious health effects.
Detroit experienced the worst air pollution following the holiday, while air quality also worsened across parts of Southern California, the Mid-Atlantic and the East Coast, IQAir reported.
The fireworks display in the nation’s capital — billed as “the largest pyrotechnics display in the history of the world” — also ended beneath a blanket of smoke after the roughly 40-minute spectacle.
“So many fireworks are going off in the grand finale that you can barely see them through the smoky haze,” said New York Times reporter Adam Sella in a live report from the National Mall. “Now it’s raining, and all that’s left to light the sky is lightning.”
More than 850,000 fireworks and effects total lit up the D.C. night sky, drawing viewers’ eyes to around 354 colorful fireworks every second during the show, the Washington Post reported.
The net explosive weight of the show was 58,500 pounds — releasing an amount of energy comparable to a magnitude 2.8 to 3.0 earthquake, the Post said.
Though the display broke the world record for the largest fireworks display, which was held by Iglesia Ni Cristo in the Philippines since 2016, the smoky aftermath in Washington was notable.
City officials issued a Code Red Air Quality Alert, asking residents to limit time outside, CNN reported, with a warning that the air is “unhealthy for seniors, kids, people with medical conditions” and that the general public may experience health issues.
And before the fireworks show started, Dr. Kisha Davis, chief health officer of nearby Montgomery County, Md., told CNN that “the air quality today is like running a marathon while smoking a cigarette,” adding that the show around the National Mall would make matters worse.
It did. Washington, D.C., briefly experienced the worst air quality of any major city in the world on Sunday, according to a company that ranks pollution globally, CNN said.