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Closed Ban the sale of helium gas for party balloons.

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Petition Parliament to ban the sale of helium in party balloons.

Taken from "Ban helium balloons this Christmas, academic warns" by the Guardian:

Helium is a non-renewable gas that is used to cool magnets in MRI scanners in hospitals. It is also mixed with oxygen to make breathing easier for ill patients and can help save new-born babies’ lives.

However, there is currently a global shortage of the gas, which cannot be synthesized. The gas has to be extracted from beneath the earth’s crust and 75 per cent of the world’s helium comes from the US.

Dr Peter Wothers warns: “The scarcity of helium is a really serious issue. I can imagine that in 50 years time our children will be saying ‘I can’t believe they used such a precious material to fill balloons’.”

“If we keep using it for non-essential things like party balloons, where we’re just letting it float off into space, we could be in for some serious problems in around 30 - 50 years time. The gas is hugely valuable,”.

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    This petition will stay open until 6 May 2014.