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Blue Fire and Toxic Working Conditions

Indonesia’s Ijen volcano must be a beautiful sight at night, although it probably doesn’t smell very good. The blue glow around the crater comes from sulfuric gases; something Ijen has in abundance.

Sulfur is common around volcanoes, but Ijen has more than most. The gases leak out through vents at up to 600 degrees Celsius; igniting into blue flames when contacting the air. As the gases cool, they condense into still-burning liquid, giving it the appearance of blue lava. Eventually it cools enough to stop burning; forming solid yellow deposits around the crater.

Sulfur mining is one of the best paying jobs around Ijen. It’s also the most dangerous. Hundreds of miners work in the crater for just $10 to $15 per day to extract sulfur for use in matches, fertilizer, and for bleaching sugar. The miners have no safety gear; they are continuously exposed to hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide gases, damaging their lungs and shortening their lifespans.

Some of the miners work at night rather than endure both the heat of the crater and the heat of the sun. While working by the light of blue fire may seem lovely, the gases that cause the phenomenon also burn the eyes and lungs, and can even dissolve the miners’ teeth. Sulfur mines in most places have been mechanized, keeping people out of harm’s way.

– RE

Photo Credit: Dodi Mulyana
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhodie/7961520680
Previous Earth Story post: http://on.fb.me/14sDd6X

Read More: 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140130-kawah-ijen-blue-flame-volcanoes-sulfur-indonesia-pictures/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12301421
http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=263350

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