In Uruguay, a bill is being processed to introduce pyrotechnics without loud din

Night falls in Uruguay and the little ones await the arrival of Santa Claus with enthusiasm and expectation. Suddenly, after dinner and when the hands of the clock strike twelve, a burst of light and color in the sky illuminates the magical arrival of gifts.

It’s Christmas Eve. But the launching of fireworks is integrated into multiple celebrations or celebrations -including the birthdays of the Peñarol and Nacional football clubs- in Uruguay, where whoever buys them can use them without any permission at any time of the year.

But the revelry of those many becomes the nightmare of many others: the noise altered their routine.

Now, with the focus on protecting people with autism and animals, the South American country takes its first step towards a sky free of pyrotechnics, a goal that various social organizations have pursued in recent years and that, if achieved, will bring about a cultural change challenging.

Consensual plan

This is how he explains it to EFE the activist Andrés Pérez, who assures that, after a local ban was approved in the department (province) of Río Negro, various associations came together and formed the Coordinadora Pirotecnia Cero.

The benchmark for the group’s Human Health area, which brings together health workers and protectors of animals and the environment, highlights that the support of local governments was decisive for the consensual project that is about to become law to materialize.

According to the deputy of the Open Council (CA, right) -one of the five partners of the Government coalition- Silvana Pérez Bonavita, promoter of the project, from Parliament it was seen “with happiness but with concern” that there were isolated prohibitions.

“We saw with concern the hope that this could awaken in the different populations and the difficulty of control that these decrees isolated from one department to another in terms of possible control entailed,” he says.

In a parliamentary commission, the Legislative received merchants, activists and experts to reach the regulation that has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies and whose objective is to gradually decrease the noise level of the pyrotechnics until it reaches the top of 90 decibels.

“We believe that with this type of sound we are greatly reducing the overall auditory discomfort generated by pyrotechnics and in some way, by being gradual, we allow society to adapt to being able to celebrate without hurting the other,” says Pérez Bonavita.

Technical adjustments

For the president of the Uruguayan Chamber of Fireworks (CUFA), Gustavo Prato, the project does not seriously damage the industry but it does require adapting its mechanics.

“We have to readjust (…), it is neither positive nor negative because we really have to adapt to certain things, which in this case is the issue of sound impact. We want to try to accompany but whenever possible from a technical point of view” , estimates.

According to the owner of Mundo Pirotécnico and other companies in the field in which, he says, some 12,000 people work in Uruguay, the producers still do not manufacture at the level that the law puts as a ceiling to be applied after three years of de-escalation from 110 decibels.

“We have already talked to China and air products with less than 90 decibels cannot even be manufactured,” he remarks.

On the other hand, from Pirotecnia Cero, Pérez and the animal care reference Karina Kokar say that, although their objective is that there is no more fireworks, the new regulation is “relatively favorable”, but they claim that the cap should be even lower for protect vulnerable population.

“Especially people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are the ones who suffer the most from their sensory alterations, but let’s also think about the hearing impaired. There are a whole number of groups,” says Pérez.

Cultural change

With 15 years of experience of activism for animal welfare, Kokar highlights the strong impact on pets when setting off fireworks.

“Really those days of pyrotechnics go crazy to the point of jumping from the caniles (cages), climbing fences and this not only happens in the shelters; in different houses the animals run away, they escape, they can have accidents. The next day on 25 (December) or 1 (January) we receive requests for help due to stray dogs or cats ”, he stresses.

Along these lines, for Pérez the key is both to promote pyrotechnics pet friendly as in the “cultural change” that will be promoted if the bill becomes law.

Kokar says that people are increasingly in favor of change but that costs, since he wants to “leave behind the sound pyrotechnics” but “does not want to miss the lights.” “This is something deeply rooted in society,” he concludes. (I)