Fireworks Laws
State and local laws regarding fireworks change frequently, I must refer you to the web site of the American Pyrotechnics Association for the latest information on the state you are interested in. Go to this page and click on the state you are interested in. You will be presented with a PDF file, in Adobe PDF format, which you can save to your disk and open with any program that can read and display PDF files. That PDF file will provide a summary of what is legal in that state. If you want more detaled information, you can write to the "Enforcing Authority" for that state, and the address is included in that PDF file.
Keep in mind that most states allow individual counties, cities and townships to have their own laws which are more restrictive than the state fireworks laws. For example, a city or county might ban fireworks completely, or allow only some types that the state allows (such as allowing only ground items while the state allows some or all aerial items in addition to the ground items), or restrict the dates and times fireworks can be sold or used (where a state might allow sales during a certain range of dates, a city may allow a shorter selling period, etc.) So the local laws must also be considered in addition to the state laws. Counties, cities and townships are not allowed to pass laws that are less restrictive than the state laws (for example, a city may not allow aerial items if the state doesn't, or allow sales all year if the state doesn't, etc.).
The general classifications of fireworks in the United States are discussed at this page.
The regulations shown below are at the U.S. federal level. They are nominally contained in the Code of Federal Regulations at 49 CFR 173.56(j)(1). However, that regulation "incorporates by reference" a document called APA Standard 87-1, which is maintained and published by the American Pyrotechnics Association. That document is rarely seen by the public, but I suppose if you write to the APA you can obtain a copy. To the best of my knowlege, it was last updated in 2001, but I am not a member of the APA so I am unable to keep up with all the latest changes in that area. The information below is he latest I was able to find, but it is not necessarily the absolute latest version of it. If you really need the specfics, you could write a letter to the APA, at P.O. Box 30438, Bethesda, MD 20824, and ask them what is required to obtain a copy of APA Standard 87-1.
In addition to the specifications, some testing is done on fireworks devices before they are approved for sale in the U.S. Testing the device for "thermal stability" by keeping the device in a controlled temperature environment at 167 degrees (F) for 48 hours is one of the tests. The chemical composition of the device must be specified by the manufacturer and sometimes a chemical analysis is made, and sometimes a controversial "tip test" is performed on the device to see how likely or unlikely it is to tip over during use. It used to be performed on a piece of foam rubber at a certain angle, but I'm not sure how they do it now. Different tests are performed by different agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Customs, and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The most recent version that I could find of the standards lists these as the limits of pyrotechnic composition that each general type of firework can have and still be classified as 1.4G Consumer Fireworks in the United States. This information may or may not be current!
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| Fountains, Cone-type |
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| Fountains, Cylindrical |
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| Skyrockets or Missiles |
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| Helicopters |
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| Roman Candles |
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| Aerial Shells, Mines, Comets (contained in firing tube) |
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| Firecrackers or ground-based reports |
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| Any aerial report component |
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| Reloadable aerial shells (box with tube and shells) |
44 mm. diameter max. 12 shells per package max. 400 grams total per package |
| Aerial display shells, without launch tube, bulk |
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| Multiple-tube devices, dense-packed |
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| Multiple-tube devices, 500-gram |
Must be on a base Tube separation of 13 mm between tubes |
| Wheels |
200 grams total composition |
| Ground Spinners |
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| Toy Smoke Devices |
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| Wire sparklers |
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| Aluminum |
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| Ammonium Perchlorate |
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| Antimony |
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| Antimony Sulfide |
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| Barium Carbonate |
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| Barium Nitrate |
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| Barium Sulfate |
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| Bismuth Oxide |
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| Boric Acid |
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| Calcium Carbonate |
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| Calcium Sulfate |
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| Carbon or Charcoal |
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| Copper Metal |
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| Copper Oxide |
Color Agent |
| Copper Salts (except Copper Chlorate) |
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| Dextrine |
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| Hexamethylenenetetramine (Hexamine) |
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| Iron and Iron Alloys (e.g., ferro/titanium) |
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| Iron Oxide |
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| Magnalium (Magnesium/Aluminum alloy) |
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| Magnesium Carbonate |
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| Magnesium Sulfate |
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| Nitrocellulose based lacquers |
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| Phosphorus, Red (only as provided in regulations) |
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| Potassium or Sodium Benzoate |
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| Potassium Bichromate (Potassium Dichromate) (not to exceed 5% of formulation) |
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| Potassium Chlorate (only as provided in regulations) |
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| Potassium Hydrogen Phthalate |
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| Potassium Nitrate |
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| Potassium Perchlorate |
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| Potassium Sulfate |
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| Silicon |
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| Sodium Bicarbonate (Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate) |
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| Sodium Nitrate |
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| Sodium Salicylate |
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| Sodium Salts (except Sodium Chlorate) |
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| Sodium Sulfate |
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| Strontium Carbonate |
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| Strontium Nitrate |
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| Strontium Salts (except Strontium Chlorate) |
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| Strontium Sulfate |
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| Sulfur |
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| Titanium (particle size must not pass through 100 mesh sieve) |
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| Organic compounds (compounds such as lactose, shellac, red gum, chlorinated paraffin and polyvinyl chloride, consisting of some combination of carbon with hydrogen, oxygen and/or chlorine; nitrogen may be present if it accounts for less than 10% (by weight) of the compound.) | |
| Nitrocellulose containing greater than 10% nitrogen by weight is permitted as a propelling or expelling charge provided there is less than 15 grams of nitrocellulose per article. | |
| NOTE: Exact chemical identity of each "Organic compound" must be included when submitting an Approval Application to the U.S. DOT. | |
| Arsenic sulfide, arsenates, or arsenites |
| Boron |
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Chlorates, except: a. In colored smoke mixtures
in which an equal or greater weight of sodium bicarbonate is
included |
| Gallates or gallic acid |
| Lead, including lead tetroxide (red lead oxide) and other lead compounds |
| Magnesium (magnesium/aluminum alloys, called magnalium, are permitted) |
| Mercury salts |
| Phosphorus (red or white) (red phosphorus is permissible in caps and party poppers) |
| Picrates or picric acid |
| Thiocyanates |
| Titanium, except in particle size too large to pass through a 100-mesh sieve |
| Zirconium |
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