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Mylar Vs. Latex Balloons
The latex balloon should have sunk to the ground after a couple of days. The Mylar® balloon should have stayed floating—in fact, they can float for as long as a week or two after being inflated.
Latex is porous—meaning it is filled with thousands of microscopic holes. When you inflate a latex balloon, you'll notice that the latex gets thinner. What you aren't able to see is the fact that you're also stretching these tiny holes to be even wider! So what happens? The helium you inflated the balloon with gradually seeps out through these holes, and the balloon starts to sink to the floor.
Mylar® is a trademarked material invented by DuPont Teijin Films, and is sometimes used as a generic word to refer to many balloons manufactured using similar foil and polyester materials. Balloons made out of these types of material aren't porous, they're airtight—meaning gas isn't able to escape through the material itself. Helium might be able to escape through the neck seal, but if it's sealed tightly enough, this tends not to be a problem.
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Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau Joins Conservationists Calling Attention To Balloon Releases
The Texas Farm Bureau is poised to side with environmentalists in calling for laws against littering to explicitly apply to helium balloon releases.
When the Farm Bureau's policy committee met in Waco a few weeks ago, members approved a resolution proposed by Jimmy Reed, president of the nearby Anderson County Farm Bureau, to "support promoting and passing stronger anti-littering laws regarding balloon releases and plastic bag litter." The resolution will next be presented along with many others to the membership delegates at the Texas Farm Bureau annual meeting next month.
Farmers and ranchers have concerns about how Mylar, latex and rubber balloons, as well as plastic bags from grocery and convenience stores, harm their livestock and crops, and conservationists have similar concerns about the harm to plants and wildlife, including birds and aquatic and marine life. Some stores that sell balloons also share the concerns with where the products they sell can end up.
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Lake Waco Wetlands coordinator Nora Schell said she sees similar items blow and flow into the wetlands. She sees streamers and plastic confetti there. Schell is concerned that plastic trash, streamers and balloons may harm all types of plants and creatures.
Reed, who has a ranch in Anderson County, said in a phone interview that he and other farmers and ranchers in his county see the remnants of balloons and plastic bags blow across their property.
"We all know that what goes up must come down and sometimes what looks really pretty floating up into the sky can be harmful to livestock and wildlife when it bursts and falls back to earth," Reed said of helium balloon releases.
Reed knows people who release helium balloons in groups often do so for celebrations or memorials, and he does not want to take away from the events. Nevertheless he and other Farm Bureau members are concerned.
"These balloons, when they fall back to the ground, they can do harm to livestock and wildlife," Reed said. "Just like we have litter laws, we think it's important to have the same law for balloons."
He said the balloons are made from materials very similar to what plastic grocery bags are made from.
"I've been seeing this for the last 20 years," Reed said. "I and other ranchers and farmers find balloons in fencing, in crops, in bushes and in the weeds. Cattle will eat it, especially young calves."
Reed said calves have died from eating trash, made of materials similar to the grocery bags and balloons, that blows off the highways.
It is not only on land that balloon remnants and other plastic refuse cause problems, but also in waterways, lakes and oceans.
Maddalena Bearzi, president of the Ocean Conservation Society in Marina Del Ray, California, said latex balloons are the most common type found in the stomachs of dead marine animals.
Bearzi, who holds a Ph.D. In biology from the University of California, Los Angeles and has studied the ecology of marine mammals since 1990, said even though some balloons are labeled biodegradable, there is no such thing.
"The plastics in mylar balloons never biodegrade," she said by email. "They only break down into smaller and smaller particles called microplastics, which can hurt marine life."
Bearzi said latex balloons are made from rubber treated with various chemicals to aid manufacturing and prevent their decomposition.
"Latex balloons are also not considered eco-friendly and pose a serious risk to marine animals," Bearzi said.
Microplastics contain contaminants that affect all forms of life in the water, from plants to animals, she said.
Mindful of concerns about the impact of balloons on land and water, Jeff Logan and Jennifer Svacina, co-owners of JJ's Balloons in Waco, 1412 N. Valley Mills Drive, have most of their business in inflatable art displays, not balloons for releases.
Jennifer Svacina, co-owner of JJ's Balloons in Waco, said most of the store's business comes from inflatable art displays, but when selling helium-filled foil balloons, she tells customers to dispose of them in the trash, not to release them.
Christopher De Los Santos, Tribune-HeraldMost of the balloons they sell are not free floating, Logan said. He and Svacina inflate the balloons with air and attach them to an arch or another structure.
"For those balloons we sell that are helium filled, mostly they're made from biodegradable (labeled) materials," Logan said.
Svacina said when she and Logan sell foil balloons, they tell their customers not to release them, but to dispose of them in the trash.
WATCH NOW: Jennifer Svacina of JJ's Balloons talks about her business
WATCH NOW: Helium shortage hits weather balloon operations
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Please log in to use this feature Log InWhat Happens To Helium Balloons When They Float Into The Sky?
What happens to helium balloons when they float into the sky?Cracker question because helium balloons are actually a pretty controversial topic. Some people argue that they are harmful to the environment because on returning to Earth, animals mistake them for food, eat them, and die. Now for this to happen, the balloons would have to come back down in fairly large chunks. These chunks would then have to either block the animal's airways and choke them, or become lodged in their digestive system causing a fatal illness. Neither of these outcomes sounds very nice for animals so it's worth investigating more.
First of all, we'd better look at how balloons are released. When helium filled balloons are handed out at public events, they usually come with a piece of string or ribbon attached. The attachment is either tied into the knot, or secured with a plastic disk. Either way, if these balloons are accidentally (or purposely) released, the attachment becomes litter and that's bad. I've only spotted a few balloons in the amazing amount of litter I see surfing here in Sydney, but they all had ribbons attached. So rule number one, don't let go of your balloons!
In organised 'mass balloon releases' however, the standard practice is to tie a knot without any attachments. That means no bits of ribbon or plastic disks end up in the environment and the balloon industry argues that balloons themselves are harmless for two reasons.
First of all, only one hundred percent biodegradable latex balloons are used in mass releases. Research showed that these balloons degrade about as quickly as an oak leaf under similar conditions. But opponents argue that a balloon floating in the ocean would take a lot longer to degrade than it would on land. While it's hard to know whether balloons that have turned up in the stomachs of dead marine animals caused their death, the presence of a ribbon would be a very useful piece of information.
The other argument is that helium balloons are claimed to reach a height of anywhere up to ten kilometres before shattering into tiny little pieces. These pieces, it is said, would be too small to pose a threat to animals. Now the shattering effect sounds reasonable for two reasons. One is that atmospheric pressure is dramatically reduced at high altitudes, so a helium balloon expands as it rises and eventually explodes. If you inflate a balloon beyond its limits at room temperature, it will break into small pieces up to about ten centimetres long. But the elasticity of rubber decreases at very low temperatures so it is possible that helium balloons shatter into much smaller pieces as is often claimed. Unfortunately, no one has followed a balloon up to see what really happens up there as far as I know. And on top of that, you have to keep adding air without tying a knot to over-inflate a balloon down here at sea level. It's hard to say whether the knot stays intact when a helium balloon explodes way up there.
So there you go … simple question, long answer! If you're keen to find out more, do a quick internet search on the subject and you'll find heaps of info from both sides of the argument.
And if you've ever wondered how balloons are made, check out these websites:No bags thanks!How Balloons are Made
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