(InvestigateTV) — Colorful, shiny and sometimes covered in messages, mylar balloons can help celebrate or commemorate a life event. However, when the party’s over, these eye-catching inflatables can also have serious infrastructure and environmental impacts.
Mylar balloons can spark fires and cause citywide power outages that affect hundreds of thousands of people.
The party favors have also proven deadly for wildlife.
Wildlife mistake balloons for food
Christian Daniels says keeping mylar balloons from the mouths of animals has become his mission.
“One day I saw a balloon and decided to pick it up, and then I did a little more research when I got home, and I found out desert tortoises mistake the balloons for wildflowers and they’ll eat them,” said Daniels, a College of Southern Nevada student who started collecting balloons while out on hikes.
Side-by-side photos show just how similar flowers and balloons look in the desert. But Daniels says he hasn’t been able to save all the tortoises he’s come across.
“Right at the entrance of his burrow, there was the Mylar balloon just sticking out,” Daniels said.
The remnants of mylar balloons also put marine life at risk. According to NOAA, balloons are a common form of ocean debris, as more than 50,000 of them wash up on coasts every year.
Since mylar balloons never biodegrade, NOAA says they will linger where they land forever, floating in the ocean where whales, seabirds and turtles can mistake them for food, like jellyfish.
“That’s some of their primary diets, and they’ll ingest those and it can cause an obstruction and often, you don’t know until you find dead turtles,” said Mark Mitchell, director of the Wildlife Hospital of Louisiana.
Mitchell says the strings also pose a threat. Animals can get tangled in them, whether wrapped around a limb or a beak.
“We see those types of entanglements probably not a huge number of cases, but enough cases that over time it really does build up,” Mitchell said.
Power outages cost millions
The consequences are costly not only for the environment but for communities, as well.
A public utility company in Nevada, NV Energy, found that over a four-year period, balloons caused 400 outages, leaving thousands of people without power.
“It was in the millions to the cost of the power outages,” said Las Vegas Councilwoman Nancy Brune.
Similar situations have occurred in Louisiana.
In August 2024, a balloon released during a vigil caused a power outage at a water treatment facility that plunged nearly all of New Orleans into a boil water advisory for two days.
“It’s so silly to be able to take out the water to a major U.S. city. It’s so disruptive,” said Kelly Jacques, a New Orleans business owner.
Mylar is a polyester film on balloons that can conduct electricity. Daniel Calamari with the utility company Entergy explains how it has the potential to spark a fire.
“They get tangled in our powerlines. It can create a path between the different wires on the pole to cause a phase-to-phase contact, which results in that power outage,” Calamari said.
States restrict balloon releases
The dangers have led nearly a dozen states to restrict or ban balloon releases, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia.
If you’re caught releasing balloons in some states with restrictions, you’ll likely receive a warning or a fine.
Brune says that doesn’t always deter people.
“It is hard to police and enforce, but I think we all recognize the issue is awareness and education,” Brune said.
College student Christian Daniels has found success online. Five years ago, he created the Facebook page “Desert Balloon Project” to alert more people about the threat balloons pose to tortoises.
“I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve heard people tell me I didn’t know releasing balloons did this,” Daniels said.
He says the page has more than 3,000 followers, some of whom share photos of themselves collecting balloons.
“I’ve gotten told by so many people that they’ve stopped releasing balloons and that when they go out now, they start picking them up,” Daniels said.
Safety recommendations and alternatives
Entergy suggests keeping Mylar balloons inside as much as possible. But if you do use them outside, make sure to use a weight to keep them from floating away.
There are alternatives to releasing balloons. NOAA suggests using bubbles that you can make at home with warm water, dish soap and sugar. Also consider lighting handheld candles or planting flowers.
“The fact that you have the power outages and senior citizens have their medications refrigerated. It may seem harmless and fun, but there are real impacts when it gets tangled with the power lines,” Brune said.
Submit story tips to our Investigators
Share errors or concerns with our Digital Editors
Watch full episodes of InvestigateTV+
Subscribe to the InvestigateTV YouTube Channel
