Welcome to the Department of Toxic Substances Control

Fireworks Treatment Technologies

Helping Local Law Enforcement Manage Confiscated Fireworks

Celebrations like the fourth of July often include spectacular displays of fireworks.  While thrilling to watch, fireworks, both legal and illegal, pose threats to human health and the environment.  Unburned fireworks may be hazardous because they are “reactive” (i.e., may be explosive), and may pose risks since they are “toxic” (may contain toxic metals and perchlorate).  Each year, the Office of the State Fire Marshal seizes tons of unburned and confiscated fireworks.

Thousands of tons of consumer fireworks are shipped into California each year, a fraction of which are confiscated by local law enforcement. The type of fireworks confiscated in a particular city or county depends on local regulations. Confiscated fireworks may include “safe and sane” consumer fireworks, as well as illegal fireworks such as M-80s, cherry bombs, and unknowns or homemade fireworks.

Example of a Mobile Blast Chamber

Example of a Mobile Blast Chamber

Example of a Mobile Flashing Furnace

Example of a Mobile Flashing Furnace
(Photo credit:  El Dorado Engineering)

At the request of the State Fire Marshal, DTSC identified and evaluated potential treatment technologies for managing large volumes of confiscated fireworks.  The Office of the State Fire Marshal, in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies, is responsible for the safe disposal of fireworks.

DTSC’s Technology Development Branch identified and evaluated fourteen technologies used by the explosives and ammunition industry as potential disposal alternatives for fireworks. Eleven treatment systems and three off-site facilities were identified as possible alternatives to open burn/open detonation. The treatment systems reviewed typically involved combusting or detonating fireworks in an enclosed chamber. Some units were equipped with air emission controls but the type of controls varied widely.
DTSC and State Fire Marshal Cooperative Project

DTSC and the State Fire Marshal are involved in a cooperative project that will provide a safe and environmentally improved means of disposing of the seized fireworks, in mobile fireworks treatment units. 

As part of a supplemental environmental project (SEP), MP Associates is currently developing a prototype of this mobile treatment unit.  When the technology and engineering are fully tested and operational, three more units will be built to travel statewide to get rid of seized fireworks. 

These mobile units must:

  • allow controlled, enclosed destruction of the fireworks, making it far safer for the bomb technicians who will operate them,
  • meet local air emissions standards when in use, keeping the metals and perchlorate residuals out of the environment, and
  • contain the treatment residues, making the handling of any hazardous residues safer and more efficient.

DTSC is developing regulations that will authorize the State Fire Marshal to own and operate the mobile units to treat seized fireworks; the regulations will apply only to the State Fire Marshal.  The regulations include technical and operational requirements that will protect human health and the environment.  If you are interested in these regulations, DTSC invites you to sign up on the DTSC ListServ dedicated to the issue of fireworks.

 
 
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