A 34 y.o. male was celebrating the 4th of July with dynamite. he was setting off quarter sticks and throwing them. Unfortunately, the last stick exploded in his hand.
To clarify: most people refer to an M-80 as a quarter stick of dynamite and this is what he was using.
What is the difference between fireworks and dynamite? If you do not know please watch the video below.
There are no commercially available fireworks that contain TNT, or trinitrotoluene. While Alfed Nobel did not invent nitroglycercin (the parent compound of TNT) he did combine it with diatomaceous earth which enabled it to be safely transported. Dynamite contains a stable nitroglycerin based explosive that must be set off by a blasting cap. Spoiler alert: In hot weather dynamite can “sweat” nitroglycerin to the outside of the stick. This is highly explosive. If you have dynamite laying around, keep it cool.
M-80’s or other fireworks contain slow explosive powders like flash powder or black power. The M-80 is a device containing a charge in excess of 50 mg of pyrotechnic flash powder and legal use requires a license. It was originally designed to mimic a cannon going off at military celebrations. As a result of the Child Protection Act of 1966 which regulated these devices to prevent serious injuries. M-80’s are illegal. However, fireworks mounted on a stick or other aerial firework devices like Roman candles may have up to 130 mg of flash powder and are legal for civilian use.
Mortars are tubes used to hold fireworks. They are designed to sit on the ground. Sometimes individuals pick them up to check for unexploded shells and that is what happened to the individual below. The mortar tube exploded in his hand.
an exploding mortar was being held in his hand causing near amputation at the wrist
A burn through the lid from a Roman candle
The parts of the body most often injured by fireworks are the hands and fingers accounting for 31% of injuries along with head, face and ears.
FUN FACTS
Gunpowder(saltpeter, sulfa and charcoal) and flash powder(aluminium powder and potassium perchlorate) have different speeds of reaction. Gunpowder burns slowly and has to be confined to make it explode. Flash powder has a reaction faster than the speed of sound so it quickly explodes.
Why doesn’t a sublingual nitroglycerin tablet explode? Nitroglycerine both in tablets and spray is greatly diluted with inert ingredients so that nitroglycerin is < 2%. It works in the body as nitric oxide.
Our first patient underwent stabilization of the thumb and completion amputation of the tip of the thumb and 2,3,4, fingers. Our second patient had an amputation of the hand at the wrist. the third patient had his eyelid reconstructed from the burn; the globe was intact.
there was a deep laceration almost completely through the palm and the thumb was reattached
Kaplan K, Taber M, Teagarden J, et al. Association of methemoglobinemia and intravenous nitroglycerin administration. American Journal of Cardiology 55(1):181-183.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHitylgFXQI
Ignarro L. in Reference Module in Biomedical Sciences, 2014
Yperen D, Van Lieshout E, Dijkshoom J, et al. Injuries, treatment and impairment casued by different typrs of fireworks; results of a 10 year multicenter retrospective cohort study. Scan J Traum Resusc Emerg Med 2021;29:11.
Canner J, Haider A , Selvarajag S, et al. US emergency department visits for fireworks injureis. 2006-2010. J Surg Res 2014:190(1):305-311.