Ecology: Dangers of Releasing Helium Balloons

We all love birthday parties with cake, ice cream; for many a birthday wouldn't be complete without a handful of helium balloons. The kids like to get out and play with their balloons, but all too often those balloons are released from the hand to float upward into the sky. There is an argument of sorts of whether the latex balloons are dangerous to wildlife and oceanic life. If you go onto the Internet you can find information that says, NO latex balloons are not dangerous and YES they are dangerous.

The difference between latex balloons and the metallic helium balloons is that latex is made of a natural substance, which is the sap of a rubber tree, and the metallic balloons are made of metallic foil. The latex balloons are biodegradable and the metallic balloons are not. The kicker is when latex balloons fall into water they deteriorate on a much slower scale which makes these balloons a threat to sea life, and when they land on the ground it can take up to 6 months for them to biodegrade, which still imposes a threat to the animals on land and in the oceans.

The danger lies in when the latex balloon fragments are ingested by wildlife and sea animals before they biodegrade completely away the animal will starve to death. Wildlife, such as deer and birds have been found dead in the forest because the latex blocked their natural passageway in the gut. Birds have been found strangled by the strings that were attached to balloons. Whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other forms of sea life have starved to death because their intestines become blocked with balloons.