Supreme Court Enforces Nationwide Ban on Barium in Firecrackers

GS Paper III Environment and Ecology

Context:

The Supreme Court clarified that its order banning barium and other banned chemicals in firecrackers applies to the entire country, not just the National Capital Region.

In October 2018, the apex court banned producing and selling all crackers except ‘green crackers’ and those with reduced emissions (improved crackers).
It also banned the manufacture and sale of ‘joined crackers’ (long rows of crackers joined together), prohibited barium salts in fireworks and said their noise levels should be within permissible limits.
The court reiterated this in its October 29, 2021 order.
In September 2023, the SC junked a plea by the firecracker manufacturers’ association to allow the use of joined crackers and to add barium with improved additives in green crackers.
In 2020, the National Green Tribunal banned the sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers in NCR and said that green crackers would be permitted only in cities and towns with moderate or poor air quality.

Firecrackers typically contain four primary ingredients: oxidizer, fuel, coloring agents, and binder.

Green Cracker

An oxidizer is required for the cracker to catch fire, the fuel sustains the fire, coloring agents give it the colors and sparkles, while the binder holds this mixture until the cracker has spent itself.
The white colour in a cracker is emitted through aluminum, magnesium and titanium, while the orange colour is carbon or iron.
Similarly, yellow agents are sodium compounds while blue and red are copper compounds and strontium carbonates. The green agent is barium monochloride salts or barium nitrate or barium chlorate.

Barium is a metal oxide that pollutes the air and causes noise.
It was banned because of its harmful impact on human health.
- such as irritation in the respiratory tract, skin allergies, breathing difficulties, and even cancer.

Green crackers are defined by the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR NEERI) as firecrackers with a smaller shell, no ash and/or additives such as dust suppressants to reduce emissions, especially particulate matter.
These crackers do not contain the barium compounds rather contain alternative chemicals such as potassium nitrate and aluminum that give them their distinctive green color. Burning green crackers produces water vapor, reducing the dust emitted.
Green firecrackers produce sounds between 110 and 125 decibels, while conventional firecrackers produce sounds of around 160 decibels, making them almost 30 percent less noisy than conventional firecrackers.
The three broad categories of such crackers are SWAS, SAFAL and STAR, developed by CSIR.
- SWAS stands for “safe water releaseer”, and has a small water pocket that is released as vapor when the cracker is burst. This suppresses dust.
- STAR, or safe thermite cracker, does not comprise potassium nitrate and sulfur and emits reduced particulate matter at reduced sound intensity.
- SAFAL is safe with minimal aluminum, which has minimum usage of aluminum and uses magnesium instead. This too emits less noise than traditional crackers.