Some interesting facts about balloons for you to impress people with.

• Qualatex balloons are The Balloon Doctors balloon manufacturer of choice.
• Qualatex latex balloons are made from 100% natural latex - not plastic.
• Latex is biodegradeable and will decompose as fast as an oakleaf in your back garden.
• The first signs of this biodegredation can be seen by the frosting that occurs on the latex balloons after they have been inflated for a while.
• Latex is a naturally occuring milky sap that comes from rubber trees.
• The latex is collected by cutting the bark of the tree with a knife and catching the latex in a cup as it drips out.
• The above method is done without causing any permanent damage to the tree, a single rubber tree can produce rubber for about 40 years!
• Helium (the gas used to float the balloons) is a non-flammable, naturally occuring and environmently friendly gas that, after Hydrogen, is the second most abundant element in the universe!
• However on Earth, Helium is very rare. It is mined in the USA or more precisely, drilled for in Texas and Oklahoma from natural gas wells that also happened to be encased in radioactive rock.
• The rocks decay over millions and millions of years and in the course of that decay, release a non-radioactive by-product, Helium one molecule at a time. The Helium accumulates in the same pocket that produces the natural gas. These are both recovered and seperated at a later stage.
• The loud noise you hear when a latex balloon bursts is not due to the sudden release of high pressure gas in the balloon...the pressure isn't that great. The bang is actually caused by the tightly stretched ends of torn latex balloon exceeding the speed of sound (thus creating a sonic boom) as they snap back to their pre-inflated size.