Dry Ice
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 Workshop Tools & Equipment · CPSC Code 914
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Dry Ice carry a danger score of 28/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 155 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 28/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 155
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 3.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 15-24
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 914 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 28/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for dry ice - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume155 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)3.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend+1%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Dry Ice (CPSC product code 914, in the Home Workshop Tools & Equipment category) generate an estimated 155 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 3,091 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 28/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (412 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2016 (9 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for dry ice is laceration to the hand, accounting for approximately 275 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by burn, not spec. to the hand (271 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 1,209 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 3.1% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
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 dry ice 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 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5-14 | 425 | 147 | |
| 15-24 | 1,078 | 131 | |
| 25-34 | 258 | 232 | |
| 35-44 | 190 | 149 | |
| 45-54 | 0 | 126 | |
| 55-64 | 0 | 219 | |
| 65-74 | 95 | 0 | |
| 75+ | 32 | 0 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Hand | Burn, Not Spec. | |
| Hand | Burn, Chemical | |
| Hand | Burns, Thermal | |
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Lower Arm | Burn, Chemical | |
| Mouth | Burn, Chemical | |
| Mouth | Burn, Not Spec. | |
| All Parts Body | Anoxia | |
| Lower Arm | Burns, Thermal | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Face | Burns, Thermal | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Wrist | Contusions, Abr. |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
56YOF BIBEMS PT STATES SHE WAS DRIVING WHEN SHE FELT SOB AND HAD A HEADACHE. PT CONCERNED ITS FROM THE DRY ICE IN HER CAR. DX: INHALATION OF DRY ICE
18YOM PT C/O MOUTH PAIN STATES PUT A PIECE OF DRY ICE IN MOUTH A WEEK AGO AND BURNED THE TOP IF MOUTH DX: CHEMICAL BURN OF ORAL MUCOSA
33YOF P/W MVC, PT WAS RESTRAINED DRIVER THAT SLID ON DRY ICE AND HIT LIGHT POLE, C/O HEADACHE AND CHEST PAINS, DX:MVA, CHEST PAIN, HEAD PAIN, ACUTE SINUSITIS
29 YOM REPORTS ACCIDENTAL DRY ICE EXPOSURE TO FINGER THIS EVENING. DX: SUPERFICIAL BURN OF FINGER LEFT HAND.
19YOF STATED SHE BURNED HER RIGHT THIGH WITH DRY ICE ONE MONTH AGO AND THE WOUND HAS NOT HEALED DX: SUPERFICIAL PARTIAL THICKNESS BURN OF THIGH
52YOF, REPORTS 2 DAYS AGO AT AN EVENT SHE ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWED A PIECE OF DRY ICE AND SINCE THEN WITH GENERALIZED ABDOMINAL DISCOMFORT DX: SWALLOWED FOREIGN BODY
25YOM PRESENTS FOR LIP PAIN AND SWELLING WITH INJURY CONSISTENT WITH SUPERFICIAL BURN AFTER HE TOOK A SHOT OF ALCOHOL THAT HAD DRY ICE IN IT. NO BAL/BAC DONE. DX: LIP SWELLING
16 YOF C/O TONGUE PAIN S/P PUT DRY ICE UNDER HER TONGUE WITH FRIENDS TO CREATE SMOKE EFFECT. DX: TONGUE PAIN; ACCIDENT DUE TO ICE
50 YOF C/O BURN TO INSIDE OF MOUTH S/P WAS MIXING FOOD AND DRY ICE INTO HEALTHY DRINKS AND SWALLOWED A PIECE OF DRY ICE THAT BURNED HER MOUTH AND THROAT AND IS HAVING DIFFICULTY BREATHING. DX: INHALATION BURN; BURN
17 YOM WITH BURN TO RIGHT FOOT AFTER ACCIDENTALLY STEPPING ON DRY ICE LAST NIGHT. HE INITALLY STUBBED HIS TOE PLAYING WITH SIBLINGS AND USED A BUCKET TO SOAK HIS FOOT. NOT REALIZING THAT HE USED THAT SAME BUCKET DOING A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT USING DRY ICE. DX BURN RIGHT FOOT, PAIN FOOT
15YOM ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWED DRY ICE AT PARTY, C/O OF THROAT PAIN, DX INGESTION OF SUBSTANCE
13YOF DRINKING A DRINK WITH DRY ICE IN IT AND BURNT MOUTH DX: BURN OF MOUTH
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to dry ice on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are dry ice?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, dry ice have a danger score of 28/100 (low risk). An estimated 155 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from dry ice?
The most common injury is laceration to the hand, accounting for approximately 275 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from dry ice increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for dry ice injuries?
The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 1,209 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by dry ice?
Of all ER visits involving dry ice, approximately 3.1% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (96.9%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with dry ice?
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 Workshop Tools & Equipment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 28/100 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 15-24 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.
