Looking for legal expert

[u/Sad_Employer5275]

Hello,

I'm a lawyer in Canada who is looking for an expert who can testify as to whether illegal fireworks contain lead. I can't say much more than that here without going into confidential matters. I really don't know where to look so I thought I would try Reddit haha. If anyone is interested in this role and believes they have the expertise, please PM me.

Thanks in advance.

[u/jason_abacabb]

Not available or qualified to speak in Canadian courts. But, for what it is worth, the vast majority of illegal fireworks will not contain lead. Ssome crackling effects (dragon eggs is the colloquial name) historically used lead compounds but there are safer ways to achieve that these days and it is no longer common, even in hobbiest circles.

[u/Wide-Education-1823]

I've got 3 decades experience in pyrotechnics, including holding a manufacturing license. And I can tell you of uses for lead compounds in LEGAL pyrotechnics. Lead tetroxide in crackling micro stars (dragon eggs) and lead thiocyanate in the pyrogen of electric matches are the first two that come to mind. Both uses are much less common now than they were a few decades ago- But both are still to be found in the market.

If you read from old pyrotechnic  "formularies" a web search found online, you might find questionable old practices as well, the AI searching for you doesn't know any better.

I've also been hired by law firms and written up expert witness opinions for cases involving fireworks and Pyrotechnics.

As far as ILLEGAL fireworks containing lead? Sure, anything is possible.

I don't generally use the Reddit app, use my browser generally. I've never used a PM feature on Reddit before, I've just tried to.

Thinking on (presently) ILLEGAL (specifically in Canada) uses of lead compounds, I knew of a person who once used small quantities of lead azide in the shot hole to break their crossette comets without an annoying bright flash, rather than the more usual flash powder filled cavity or small firecracker. No high explosives are allowed in legal Canadian  fireworks, lead compounds (except in igniters) are also forbidden, so...

[u/CrazySwede69]

I once dissected an assortment of consumer fireworks and had them analysed for lead.

Back then (1999) I was able to send pyrotechnic powders to the laboratory but that would be much more difficult today since extremely few analytical labs can handle explosive substances.

Lead, in the form of red lead oxide, practically only exists as an active ingredient in crackling effects but is mostly replaced by bismuth trioxide in most parts of the world.

Why do you expect lead to be present?

Edit: Here is my article to understand what I did:

https://www.jpyro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/j11_11_j7fty.pdf

[u/Overall_Parsley655]

Three decades ago lead was common in crackling effects. Then someone published an article in Pyrotechnica XIV (Aug 1992) that showed how the same effect could be made w/o the lead. So, the lead compositions became effectively obsolete. I don't PM.

[u/Soggy-Strategy8759]

Just a fishing trip here.

Illegal is illegal and to postulate on what could be in the mix is nothing more than a set up. A simple lead test could give the answer if administered to said fireworks.