A couple covered in powder takes part in 2014 "Color Run" in Shanghai. (File photo/Dong Jun)
(ECNS) - Inquiries have shown that the iconic powder used in the Color Run poses a risk of both explosion and fire, despite manufacturers and retailers guaranteeing the opposite.
It is a grave misunderstanding that the color powder would not explode, according to Zhang Xiaoliang, an associate professor from Shanghai Institute of Technology. In fact, the powder did explode during Color Play Asia in Taiwan last Saturday, leaving one person dead and about 500 injured.
Disguised as customers, reporters have contacted powder manufacturers and retailers, who are adamant that the powder "does not explode."
The colorful powder is a synthetic product made of corn powder and a pigment additive. "It does not contain any other industrial chemical," said the manufacturer. "Either scattered on the face or inhaled into the body, it is harmless."
An online retailer, who admitted that flour and corn powder could explode if it reaches a certain level of density in a confined space, said "We are in the outdoors. It won't burn up however much (powder) we spray."
Even in the outdoors, it could still explode if the powder is dense enough in the air, according to Zhang. The powder poses no threat when it is only manually sprayed. However, accidents are more likely to happen when air-compression machines are involved. In addition, it is safer for the powder to be attached to human skin than shot straight into the air.
