A sparkler is a type of hand-held firework that burns slowly while emitting colored flames,
sparks, and other effects. In the United Kingdom, a sparkler is often
used by children at bonfire and fireworks displays on Guy Fawkes Night, the fifth of
November, and in the United States on Independence Day. It is called as Phool Jhadi in India
and is popular during Diwali festival.
Design The "classic" type of sparkler consists of
a stiff metal wire approximately 20 cm long that has been dipped in a thick batter of
slow-burning pyrotechnic composition and allowed to dry. The composition contains these components,
one or more of each category: Metallic fuel, mandatory to make sparks; size
of particles influences appearance of the sparks
Aluminium or magnesium or magnalium, producing white sparks
Iron, producing orange branching sparks Titanium, producing rich white sparks
Ferrotitanium, for yellow-gold sparkles
Additional fuel, optional, modifying the burning speed
Sulfur Charcoal
Oxidizer, mandatory Potassium nitrate
Barium nitrate Strontium nitrate
Potassium perchlorate, more powerful but potentially explosive
Optional pyrotechnic colorants, for colored flames
chlorides and nitrates of metals, e.g. barium, strontium, or copper
Combustible binder, holding the composition together
Dextrin Nitrocellulose
The colored spot on the top of each rod indicates the color of the sparkles emitted when ignited.
A more modern type of sparkler, known as the "Morning Glory", consists of a long, thin
paper tube filled with composition and attached to a wooden rod using brightly colored tissue
paper and ribbon. Several different compositions can be packed into a single tube, resulting
in a sparkler that changes color. Safety issues
A 2009 report from the National Council on Fireworks Safety indicated that sparklers
are responsible for 16 percent of legal firework-related injuries in the United States. The U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission's statistics from the Fourth of July festivities in 2003 indicate
that sparklers were involved in a majority of fireworks injuries sustained by children
under five years of age. The devices burn at a high temperature, depending
on the fuel and oxidizer used, more than sufficient to cause severe skin burns or ignite clothing.
Safety experts recommend that adults ensure children who handle sparklers are properly
warned, supervised and wearing non-flammable clothing. As with all fireworks, sparklers
are also capable of accidentally initiating wildfires. This is especially true in drier
areas; in Australia, for instance, sparkler-related bushfire accidents have led to their banning
at public outdoor events during summer like Australia Day celebrations.
Sparkler bombs are constructed by binding together as many as 300 sparklers with tape,
leaving one extended to use as a fuse. In 2008 three deaths were attributed to the devices,
which can be ignited accidentally by heat or friction. Because they usually contain
more than 50 milligrams of the same explosive powder found in firecrackers, they are illegal
under U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulations.
In art and pop culture
An Art group monochrom were planning to light 10,000 bound sparklers as they described as
"symbolic liberation" to reflect that sparklers are generally used in monotheistic traditions.
A large group from Toronto, Ontario, Canada also held an event displaying 10,000 sparklers
to symbolize brightness, intensity, warmth and creativity. In 1999 the two artists Tobias
Kipp and Timo Pitkämö developed a technique of drawing portraits with burning sparklers
on paper, which they called pyrografie. Since then the two artists have drawn more than
20,000 pyroportraits. See also
Consumer fireworks References