Scientist-Chemist Comments On Detaining Belarusian Schoolchildren

‘They were detained for children's firecrackers’.

The Belarusian state TV recently reported about the arrest of several teenagers ‘for the manufacturing of explosives’. Chemist Siarhei Besarab has explained whether the named composition of the substance can really be considered an explosive, reports Radio Svaboda.

Besarab noted: the way the explosion looks on the video does not characterise its power and the destruction it can cause. According to the scientist, even a polythene bag with air can cause an explosion if you step on it with your foot and there is dust nearby.

‘An explosion is a chemical process that happens very quickly and releases huge amounts of energy and highly compressed gases. Any substance that gives off gas when it burns is already an explosive. If you spray fine sugar or flour in a room, they can explode and break windows,’ the chemist explained.

The report on the detention of the teenagers said that the schoolchildren had filled iodine bottles with homemade gunpowder. Besarab notes that homemade gunpowder is about 700 years old, it is a long-known substance.

‘It is a mixture of potassium nitrate (a fertiliser sold everywhere), usual coal from a fire and garden sulphur, which is used to treat plants from pests. These are elementary substances,’ the expert added.

According to him, if a mixture of these substances is placed in a small container, they will tear it apart with a loud sound and shrapnel during the chemical reaction. The scientist pointed out that firecrackers have been sold in Belarus for decades. He claims that the film shows how the detained teenagers made those very same firecrackers, only by themselves, instead of buying them in the shop.

‘The guys were detained for homemade children's firecrackers, not for explosives,’ he said.

As for the explosive substance of ‘Kisa’, which was shown in the story, it is scientifically called acetone peroxide. Siarhei Besarab explained that this substance can be produced during the oxidation process in paint, in some cosmetic substances and cause an explosion. Acetone peroxide is also an authorised food additive of E929, which is used in bread. It can be bought legally.

According to the chemist, it is quite difficult to portray the detained teenagers as criminals in such circumstances. That is why the film shows knives, swastikas and other things that should give the viewer a bad image of the detained children.

Besarab added that the power of the explosion depends not on the amount of explosive mixture, but on the container in which it is placed. Firecrackers (store-bought or self-made) can also cause harm.

However, the expert suggests that if the teenagers wanted to harm other people, it would have been enough for them to buy a firecracker in a shop, put it in the bottle with iodine and set it on fire. The effect of the explosion would have been the same. However, Siarhei Besarab drew attention to the fact that for some reason the guys were interested in the study of chemicals and processes. According to him, the professional path for many chemists begins with an interest in pyrotechnics.

He shared his recollection that after the Republican Olympiads in chemistry in the 2000s, Belarusian schoolchildren were competing to see who would have the brightest explosion. And it was not in laboratory conditions. This is how pupils shared what they had learnt during the year.