Batteries
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Home Communication & Entertainment · CPSC Code 884
Up 15% over 5 years
The verdict
Batteries carry a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 14,299 ER-treated injuries a year that are rising by about 15% over the last five years.
- 43/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 14,299
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 10.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 884 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 43/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for batteries - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume14,299 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)10.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend+15%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Batteries (CPSC product code 884, in the Home Communication & Entertainment category) generate an estimated 14,299 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 285,989 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 43/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are rising by about 15% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (21,198 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2005 (9,621 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for batteries is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 139,419 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by burn, chemical to the eyeball (9,577 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 119,949 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 10.1% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 638 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how batteries fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 70,009 | 49,897 | |
| 5-14 | 27,310 | 14,272 | |
| 15-24 | 15,209 | 6,212 | |
| 25-34 | 16,468 | 8,104 | |
| 35-44 | 13,979 | 5,086 | |
| 45-54 | 13,090 | 4,792 | |
| 55-64 | 12,471 | 3,088 | |
| 65-74 | 8,830 | 2,995 | |
| 75+ | 9,904 | 4,140 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | Ingestion | |
| Eyeball | Burn, Chemical | |
| Face | Foreign Body | |
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Eyeball | Derma/conjunct | |
| Ear | Foreign Body | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Toe | Fracture |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
11YOF C/O FOREIGN BODY. BUTTON BATTERIES IN BILATERAL NARES. BATTERIES REMOVED WITH METAL FORCEPS. DX: FOREIGN BODY IN NOSTRIL, INITIAL ENCOUNTER
36 YOM C/O INJ TO LOW BACK PAIN WITH NURBNESS OF LEG AFTER PICKING UP A BATTERY AND THEN SET IT DOWN AT HOME DX LUMBAR STRAIN, SCIATICA
4YOM PRESENTS AFTER PUTTING A CIRCULAR BATTERY UP HIS RIGHT NOSTRIL, HAS A SMALL AREA OF ABRASION TO HIS NOSTRIL DX: NASAL FOREIGN BODY
^39YOM PATIENT REPORTS DROPPING A CAR BATTERY AND IT EXPLODED, HE REPORTED GETTING ACID IN RIGHT EYE DX: CHEMICAL INJURY TO CORNEA OF RIGHT EYE
20MOM SWALLOWED A BATTERY AT GRANDMOTHERS HOUSE DX: FOREIGN BODY INGESTION
2YOF SWALLOWED A BUTTON BATTERY DX: FOREIGN BODY INGESTION
4YOF SWALLOWED A BUTTON BATTERY DX: INGESTION OF A FOREIGN OBJECT
6YOM PRESENTS WITH POSSIBLE SWALLOWING OF FOREIGN BODY S/P PT'S MOTHER STATES THE PT MAY HAVE SWALLOED 2 TRIPLE A BATTERIES EARLIER IN THE MORNING. DX: SWALLOWED FOREIGN BODY
3 YOF TOLD FAMILIY SHE HAD SWALLOWED A BATTERY DX POSSIBLE FB INGESTION
18MOM TO ER FOR SWALLOWED FOREIGN BODY, PTS MOM FOUND PT PLAYING W/ TOY THAT HAS 2 BUTTON BATTERIES, MOM FOUND 1 BATTERY IN HIS MOUTH THE OTHER WAS MISSING, SHE THINKS HE SWALLOWED, NO FOREIGN BODY SEEN IN XRAY DX SWALLOWED FOREIGN BODY
24YOM, REPORTS A MARINE BATTERY FELL STRIKING HIS HEAD WITHOUT LOSS OF CONSCIOUS, POISTIVE CONTUSION TO FOREHEAD, DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY
28YOM WAS BURNED WHEN HIS VAPE PEN LEAKED FROM THE LITHIUM BATTERY. DX: BILATERAL HAND BURNS
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
Purchased Rayovac Batteries. Several devices destroyed by leaking batteries. Most recently purchased a 60 pack of AA batteries. Those batteries are well within their freshness date and have leaked/corroded while still new in the package. Rayovac has been very reluctant to cover devices and batteries under their warranty. They have suggested an unsafe practice in handling the hazardous material produced by them.
At approximately 3 am on 9/7/2025 the fire alarms in my home went off. I traced the source to a 40 Volt Ryobi lithium ion battery that was one of two batteries that came with a mower, model number RY401021US. The battery was not in a charger. The heat caused the underside of the battery to burn away and created dense smoke and strong odor. The heat from the battery apparently caused damage to other items in close proximity including a can a spray paint that exploded and splattered paint throughout the area.
Regarding FOCHEW lithium Portable Charger, 2-Pack 20000mAh sold on Amazon Amazon ASIN B094G1GL8T Model # HX120S2 - Dongguan Haoxun Electronic Technology Co., Ltd Purchased in May, case of item began to melt and unit stopped working after 2-3 weeks. Purchased replacement in June, case of item began to melt and unit stopped working after 60 days. Unit is a fire hazard. Amazon has issued a return tag but CPC may want to investigate safety of this item.
had a Dewalt Lithium rechargeable battery explode in a business.
Our golf cart needed new lead-acid batteries, so the company that sold the cart to us, and continues to provide maintenance support, suggested we install six 8-volt batteries instead of the four 12-volt batteries that needed replacing. While charging, potentially dangerous hydrogen gas is produced that made our carbon monoxide detector a floor above the cart garage alarm. Readings of 300 ppm were obtained in our house. When the detector was placed upon the batteries, the detector max'd out at 999 ppm. I called the fire department, and their more sophisticated measuring device measured, and alarmed. They said that firefighters will evacuate a building if hydrogen is measured above 50 ppm! My cart company never received a complaint before about this, and didn't necessarily understand the gravity of the situation, but hydrogen gas had been escaping into my house for weeks!
Used the battery as instructed and as intended to jump start my 2006 [REDACTED] vehicle. Black clamp to negative post of my car battery and red clamp to the positive post of my car battery, after connecting the ground. I tried to turn my vehicle over one time and noticed through my windshield that the battery under the hood of my car was bulging and so I turned off the ignition and ran to get the battery. It had swelled and was making noises like it was going to catch on fire. I disconnected the positive and then negative clamps and I felt the case with my thumb and burned my back of my thumb. I used the cable wires to remove the battery to a safe place as it continued to heat up and break itself open. The battery has no manufacture's details on it and is distributed on Amazon.com by Lytle Racing Group in Arizona. I contacted them via Amazon Marketplace and they wrote back and said it was past warranty and they couldn't help me. I protested the safety concerns I had, and they said AntiGravity indemnifies them and that was all. I have photos and tried two browsers, but your site will not allow me to upload the pictures.
RECALL on Electric bike battery with Pedego bike company, purchased between 2011 and 2012. The batteries were faulted with early wear and melting of ion plates, etc. My battery defaulted on 2013, approximately one year after the purchase. The bike has been inoperable since then. I was not informed about the recall, until I saw an article recently that made me aware, and realized that I also was also a recipient of a Faulty product; I understand the company was offering a free New Battery replacement. I have reached out to PEDEGO bike company, and have not received any correspondence to my request. I would like the Pedego Company to come clean on their Promise to Replace all faulty batteries issued within those said years, 2010-2013. Can you please help me achieve this Goal? Thank you in advance. Steve
8 Batteries were installed in multiple burglar alarm sensors, an additional box was opened and 2 were installed in glass break sensors with only battery power. After being installed in the glass break sensor, the installer went to place additional batteries into from the same box into other sensors. He then heard a loud crack and found flames shooting from one of the devices, the device fell to the floor and the battery shot around the room spitting fire. It was quickly covered with a wet towel to extinguish the burning battery. As this was taking place a smoke detector in another room began sounding. When it was investigated a device with just installed battery had fire coming from the device as well.
Showing 8 of 638 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to batteries on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are batteries?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, batteries have a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 14,299 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from batteries?
The most common injury is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 139,419 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from batteries increasing or decreasing?
Up 15% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for batteries injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 119,949 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by batteries?
Of all ER visits involving batteries, approximately 10.1% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (89.9%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with batteries?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Home Communication & Entertainment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 43/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 0-4 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
