A watusi is a type of Christmas firework that is popular in the Philippines. Its ingredients are yellow phosphorus, potassium chlorate, potassium nitrate, and trinitrotoluene.
The ingredients in the firework are highly toxic, and ingestion can lead to painful death. In particular, children have been killed by watusi fireworks after sucking on them or mistaking them for sweets. The yellow phosphorus, the most dangerous component of the watusi, may explode and rip apart the esophagus when ingested. The Department of Health is attempting to forbid watusi, because it caused hundreds of children to die of phosphorus poisoning.
References
- Duncan Alexander McKenzie R.N. (11 August 2014). The Philippines: Dangers and Health Risks. Lulu.com. pp. 33–. ISBN 978-1-312-42625-2.
- ^ Wallerstein, C (1999). "Christmas firework "sweets" kill hundreds of children". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 319 (7219): 1222. doi:10.1136/bmj.319.7219.1222a. PMC 1117016. PMID 10550079. (PMC link)
- "Warning issued vs watusi". Manila Standard. Philippine News Agency. 19 December 1994. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- Nestor Etolle (2 January 2008). "Man commits suicide by ingesting watusi". philstar.com.
- "Watusi is dangerous". Manila Standard. Reuters. 12 December 1992. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- "DOH exec eyes ban on children from buying watusi firecracker". GMA News Online. 28 December 2010.
- Michael I. Greenberg (2006). Disaster!: A Compendium of Terrorist, Natural, and Man-Made Catastrophes. Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-0-7637-3989-8.
See also
 | This pyrotechnics-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |