Product Safety Trends 2005–2024

Two decades of CPSC NEISS data reveal a clear pattern: products subject to strong safety standards tend to improve, while emerging product categories with regulatory gaps often show rapid injury growth.

Key Takeaway

The biggest safety gains over 20 years have come from mandatory standards for children's products (car seats, cribs, inclined sleepers). The biggest worsening trends involve new product categories that outpaced regulation: e-scooters, lithium battery products, and button batteries. The pattern is predictable, the first years after a new product's mass adoption are always the most dangerous.

Products Getting Safer (2005–2024)

The following products have seen statistically significant reductions in injury rates, not just raw counts, over the 20-year NEISS dataset. Rate reductions are more meaningful than count reductions because they account for population growth and increased product adoption.

Product Injury Rate Change (2005–2024) Primary Driver
Child Car Seats -45% Mandatory standards, improved design
Baby Walkers -76% ASTM mandatory standard (2010), fall prevention
Cigarette Lighters -62% Child-resistant requirement (1993, continued benefit)
Infant Cribs -55% Drop-side ban (2011), strengthened ASTM standards
Table Saws (professional) -28% Flesh-detecting safety technology (SawStop)
Lawn Mower Blade Contact -31% Improved blade-disengage dead-man controls
Hoverboard Fires -96% UL 2272 certification requirement (2016)

Source: CPSC NEISS 2005–2024; CDC WISQARS; CPSC enforcement action data CPSC NEISS 2005–2024; CDC WISQARS; CPSC enforcement action data Rate changes are per 100,000 population

Products Getting More Dangerous (2015–2024)

Worsening trends are concentrated in two categories: new technology products that outpaced safety standards, and battery-powered products where lithium energy density has created new hazards not present in alkaline products.

Product ER Visits (2015) ER Visits (2023) Change
E-Scooters / E-Bikes ~2,000 ~42,000 +2,000%
Button / Coin Batteries ~2,500 ~3,500 +40%
Lithium Battery Fires ~700 ~2,800 +300%
E-Cigarettes / Vapes ~100 ~2,800 +2,700%
Exercise / Peloton-type Equipment ~350,000 ~420,000 +20%

Source: CPSC NEISS 2015–2023 CPSC NEISS 2015–2023 Exercise equipment increase reflects expanded home gym adoption post-2020

The Regulatory Lag Problem

The pattern in the worsening products above is consistent: new product categories grow faster than CPSC's rulemaking process can follow. Issuing a mandatory safety standard takes 3–7 years on average from initial hazard identification to final rule. During that window, millions of units reach consumers without safety requirements.

The CPSC has accelerated this process in recent years, the button battery standard was completed in record time (approximately 2 years) due to the severity of pediatric fatalities. But e-scooters and lithium battery products still lack comprehensive federal safety standards as of 2024. UL certifications exist (UL 2272 for e-scooters, UL 2580 for e-bike batteries) but are voluntary.

The COVID-19 Effect on Injury Patterns

The pandemic years (2020–2021) created unusual shifts in NEISS data. Total ER visits dropped sharply in spring 2020 (people avoided hospitals for non-emergency issues), then rebounded. Product-specific patterns shifted:

  • Home exercise equipment injuries surged as gyms closed and consumers purchased treadmills, Pelotons, and free weights for home use without instruction.
  • Power tool injuries increased as home improvement projects spiked among inexperienced users.
  • Playground equipment injuries declined initially (closed parks) then surged as restrictions lifted.
  • Disinfectant/cleaning product ingestions rose significantly in spring 2020 as households stockpiled and misused chemical products.

Watch List: Emerging Hazards (2024–2027)

Based on CPSC early warning signals and NEISS trend data, these product categories warrant monitoring over the next several years:

  • Large-format lithium batteries (home energy storage, e-bike batteries): Battery fire incidents growing at 30%/year. No federal mandatory standard for residential installations.
  • Smart home / IoT devices: Electrical fire incidents involving smart plugs, charging devices, and low-cost electrical imports rising. CPSC import surveillance increasingly focused here.
  • Weighted blankets: Pediatric suffocation reports appearing in NEISS at increasing frequency for children under 2 using adult-weight blankets.
  • Furniture tip-overs: Despite IKEA recall and increased awareness, dresser and furniture tip-over child fatalities (approximately 2/month) have not declined meaningfully.

Track Trends in Real Data

PlainSafety's product pages show 20-year injury trend charts for each of the 838 CPSC product categories. You can see exactly which products have worsening trajectories and which are improving. Start with the Worsening Trends rankings for a curated view, or browse all products to search for a specific category.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which consumer product has improved the most in safety over the past 20 years?
Child restraint systems (car seats) have seen among the largest injury reductions of any consumer product, with a roughly 45% reduction in injury rates per-use over the past two decades, driven by mandatory federal standards, improved designs, and widespread public awareness campaigns. Power tools, especially table saws, have also improved significantly thanks to blade-contact detection technology in professional models, though consumer-grade saws lag behind.
Why are e-scooter injuries increasing so rapidly?
Electric scooters (e-scooters) went from an estimated 2,000 ER visits in 2015 to approximately 42,000 per year by 2023, a rate of increase CPSC has never seen with a new product category in its 50-year history. Contributing factors: rapid adoption as shared mobility in cities starting around 2017-2018, lack of mandatory helmet laws in many jurisdictions, mixed-traffic environments (riders alongside cars), and limited consumer experience with the platform. Head injuries account for approximately 29% of e-scooter ER visits.
Have button battery injuries increased even after new CPSC standards?
CPSC issued mandatory new standards for button battery compartment security in 2023. Data from 2023-2024 shows early signs of reduction in pediatric button battery ingestion cases, but it is too early to confirm a trend. Prior to the standard, pediatric button battery ER visits were growing at approximately 8% per year. The ER visit number (~3,500/year) understates the problem, button battery ingestions have roughly a 12% serious complication rate and the CPSC's mandatory standard is expected to take 3–5 years to fully manifest in market product changes.
Are riding lawn mowers getting safer?
The picture is mixed. Riding mower fatalities have declined by roughly 25% since 2005 due to improved blade-disengage systems. However, total ER visits from riding mowers have remained relatively flat at around 80,000/year. The injury profile has shifted: blade contact injuries are down, but rollover and backing-up injuries (especially involving children) have remained stubbornly persistent. CPSC has specifically cited rollover protective structures (ROPS) as an underutilized safety feature on residential riding mowers.
How has hoverboard safety changed since the original 2015-2016 fires?
Self-balancing scooters (hoverboards) caused approximately 60 fires in 2015 from lithium battery failures, prompting CPSC warnings and UL 2272 certification requirements. UL 2272 became effectively mandatory (retailers required certification) by 2016. Fire-related hoverboard incidents dropped dramatically after certification, from ~500 reported in 2015-2016 to under 20 per year by 2019. Fall-related injuries from hoverboards continue at approximately 27,000/year, largely unaffected by the electrical safety standard.
What is the overall trend in consumer product injury deaths?
Per-capita consumer product-related fatality rates have declined significantly since 1970 (the pre-CPSC baseline), with the CPSC estimating roughly a 30% reduction in the death rate per 100,000 population. However, in absolute terms, the total number of product-related deaths in recent years (approximately 38,000/year) has remained relatively stable, because population growth and increased product exposure offset per-capita safety improvements. The largest remaining hazard categories are falls (including furniture falls), carbon monoxide poisoning, and drowning.

Sources

  • CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), 2005–2024
  • CPSC Injury Statistics, cpsc.gov/safety-education/safety-guides
  • SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports
  • CPSC Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction, annual summaries
  • UL Standards (2272, 2580) for e-mobility products

This guide is for informational purposes only. PlainSafety is not affiliated with CPSC. Trend percentages are derived from NEISS weighted estimates and are subject to sampling variability, especially for low-volume product categories. Year-to-year fluctuations in small categories may reflect sample variation rather than true population trends.