Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes Or Tobacco
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.
Transportation & Substances · CPSC Code 1909
No trend data
The verdict
Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes Or Tobacco carry a danger score of 41/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 9,914 ER-treated injuries a year that are stable over the most recent five-year window.
- 41/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 9,914
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 13.7%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1909 - last data year 2008.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 41/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume9,914 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)13.7%
- Fatality rate0.25%
- 5-year trendN/A
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes Or Tobacco (CPSC product code 1909, in the Transportation & Substances category) generate an estimated 9,914 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 39,657 ER-treated injuries across the 4-year span from 2005 to 2008. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 41/100 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 stable over the most recent five-year window, with the busiest year on record being 2007 (10,778 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2008 (8,649 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 6,555 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by burns, thermal to the face (6,224 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 9,120 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 13.7% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.25%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco 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 2008-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2008)
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 | 5,222 | 3,898 | |
| 5-14 | 905 | 511 | |
| 15-24 | 5,017 | 1,996 | |
| 25-34 | 3,205 | 2,024 | |
| 35-44 | 2,601 | 2,458 | |
| 45-54 | 2,439 | 1,728 | |
| 55-64 | 2,260 | 1,630 | |
| 65-74 | 1,513 | 1,171 | |
| 75+ | 545 | 534 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Face | Burns, Thermal | |
| Eyeball | Burns, Thermal | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| All Parts Body | Anoxia | |
| Hand | Burns, Thermal | |
| Finger | Burns, Thermal | |
| Lower Arm | Burns, Thermal | |
| Internal | Ingestion | |
| Eyeball | Foreign Body | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Upper Trunk | Burns, Thermal | |
| Upper Leg | Burns, Thermal | |
| All Parts Body | Other | |
| Head | Internal Injury |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
PT FELL ASLEEP WITH A CIGARETTE AND CAUGHT HAIR ON FIRE, BURNS TO RIGHTSIDE OF FACE, NO FIRE DEPARTMENT INVOLVED
PT AT HOME DRANK OUT OF DADS TOBACCO CHEW SPIT CUP/DX TOBACCO INTOXICATION
PT RAN INTO A CIGARETTEDX: CORNEAL AB
PT SMOKING A CIGARETTE WHEN IT FLIPPED UP INTO EYE. D: CORNEAL ABRASION.
PT FELL ASLEEP WITH CIGARETTE IN HAND, WHEN AWOKE HOUSE WAS ON FIRE.DX:SMOKE INHALATION, POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENT ATTENDED
PT MAY HAVE INGESTED CHEWING TOBACCO SPUTUM.DX: LWBS.
19 YO FEMALE SAID SOMEONE BLEW CIGAR SMOKE IN EYECORNEAL ABRASION
PATIENT WEARING 02 WHEN A FRIEND CAME IN, LIT A CIGARETTE, BURNEDPATIENT'S NOSE. DX-FACIAL BURNS, PNEUMONIA.
P/W AOF EYE PAIN P CIG ASH LANDED INTO EYE>>CORNEAL ABRS
PT SITTING IN THER BACK SEAT OF A CAR AND SOMEONE THREW A CIGARRETTE OUT THE FRONT WINDOW WENT BACK INTO THE CAR IN EYE THERMAL BURN RIGHT EYE
65% TBSA BURNS.PT WAS SMOKING CIGARETTES AND CAUGHT ON FIRE.FIRE DEPARTMENT THERE.
PT STS SMOKED A CIGARETTE-GOT DIZZY,FELL BACKWARDS,DX NEAR SYNCOPE,RENAL INSUFF,SCALP LACERATION
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco have a danger score of 41/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 9,914 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco?
The most common injury is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 6,555 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco increasing or decreasing?
No trend data.
Who is most at risk for cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 9,120 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco?
Of all ER visits involving cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco, approximately 13.7% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (86.3%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with cigarettes, cigars, pipes or tobacco?
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 Transportation & Substances
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 41/100 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.
