Neil Irwin presents five facts about fireworks. First on his list:
You might injure yourself. You probably won’t kill yourself. The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that in 2012, there were 8,700 injuries in the United States caused by fireworks that required treatment at a hospital, well within the recent range of injury numbers (the 15-year high was 11,000 in 2000, the recent low 7,000 in 2008). But there were only six deaths reported in 2012, four in 2011, and three in 2010. (Here is more from Sarah Kliff on where on the body those injuries are likely to occur)
Marc Herman reads the The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)’s report on fireworks safety:
The key to avoiding fireworks injury appears to be, broadly, not treating gunpowder like it’s barbeque sauce. The bulk of injuries came from various homemade firecrackers and misuse of powerful rockets. Reading the directions, and not trying to re-invent something the Chinese had pretty much nailed 2,000 years ago, appear to be the trick to avoiding injury, according to the CPSC report
And Margaret Hartmann finds a political angle on Independence Day festivities:
Thanks to sequestration, the Fourth of July is going to be a good bit less festive this year, particularly if you happen to live on or near a military base or are an air-show buff. As the Washington Post reported this week, politicians’ dire predictions have mostly not come true, but over the long holiday weekend, federal cutbacks will be especially visible as, with the military subject to across-the-board cuts, bases have been forced to scale back or cancel their Independence Day celebrations.
And National Geographic presents photography advice for capturing fireworks.
(Photo by Flickr user bayasaa)
The Dish 
