Fertilizers, Not Specified
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.
Farm & Dairy Equipment · CPSC Code 1023
Down 22% over 5 years
The verdict
Fertilizers, Not Specified carry a danger score of 35/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 3,004 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 22% over the last five years.
- 35/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 3,004
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 6.5%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1023 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 35/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for fertilizers, not specified - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume3,004 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)6.5%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-22%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Fertilizers, Not Specified (CPSC product code 1023, in the Farm & Dairy Equipment category) generate an estimated 3,004 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 60,080 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 35/100 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 declining by about 22% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2012 (4,428 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2005 (1,673 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for fertilizers, not specified is strain, sprain to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 5,154 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by other to the lower trunk (4,122 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 13,400 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 6.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 3 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how fertilizers, not specified 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 | 4,141 | 2,652 | |
| 5-14 | 7,901 | 5,499 | |
| 15-24 | 2,211 | 1,093 | |
| 25-34 | 3,581 | 1,389 | |
| 35-44 | 2,966 | 2,780 | |
| 45-54 | 3,829 | 2,525 | |
| 55-64 | 4,231 | 3,493 | |
| 65-74 | 3,501 | 2,770 | |
| 75+ | 3,229 | 2,283 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Eyeball | Foreign Body | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Foot | Foreign Body | |
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Arm | Fracture | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Face | Foreign Body |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
34YOM STATES HE HAS NECK AND BACK PAIN, LIFTED BAGS OF MULCH AND LANDSCAPING ROCKS AND HAS HAD PAIN SINCE.DX: ACUTE CERVICAL STRAIN; THORACIC SPINE STRAIN.
77YOF WAS SPREADING MULCH IN HER YARD WHEN SHE FELL ONTO HER HEAD DX:CLOSED HEAD INJURY, LAC FOREHEAD
76YOM WAS DOING YARD WORK A FEW DAYS AGO PUTTING DOWN MULCH WHEN HE HAD A FALL ONTO HIS KNEES CONTINUED PAIN DX: CELLULITIS OF RIGHT KNEE
60YOF C/O LOW BACK PAIN S/P PT STATES SHE WAS BENDING AND LIFTING MULCH WHEN SHE HURT HER BACK. DX: ACUTE LOW BACK PAIN
71 YOM WAS MOVING MULCH OUT OF HIS TRUCK, GOT HIS FEET TANGLED, AND FELL OUT OF THE TRUCK HITTING HIS RIGHT SHOULDER AND HEAD. DX HEAD CONTUSION, RIGHT SHOULDER PAIN
4YOF STUCK A PIECE OF MULCH IN HER RIGHT NOSTRIL AT SCHOOL DX: FOREIGN BODY NOSE
62YOM WAS BITTEN ON THE HAND BY A SNAKE WHILE HE WAS PUTTING DOWN MULCH IN HIS YARD. DX: SNAKE BITE
73YOM, FOUR DAYS AGO WAS APPLYING A FERTILIZER CALLED *** LAWN BOOSTER USING HIS BARE HANDS AND DEVELOPED BILATERAL HANDS REDNESS AND TINGLING THEN NOTICED HIS EARS WERE HOT RED AND SOME MILD SWELLING UNDER LEFT EYE DX: CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
88YOF, ON *** SLIPPED ON MULCH WHILE STEPPING OUT OF THE CAR AND FELL STRIKING FACE ONTO CONCRETE RESULTING IN NASAL BRIDGE LACERATION WITHOUT LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS DX: CLOSED FRACTURE OF NASAL BONE
24YOM PRESENTS WITH FOREIGN BODY IN EYE. PATIENT STATES HE WAS SHOVELING MULCH WHEN IT BLEW INTO HIS EYES. DX: CONJUNCTIVAL ABRASION
22 YOM WAS UNLOADING MULCH FROM A TRUCK. DX: CHEST WALL PAIN
81YOF, WAS OUTSIDE DOING YARD WORK WHEN TRIPPED OVER MULCH PILE AND FELL FORWARD LANDING ONTO FACE NO LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS OR BLOOD THINNERS DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY; CONTUSION OF FACE
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
I purchased 20 bags of Premium Brown Mulch from Lowes distributed by Oldcastle Lawn & Garden, PO Box 468567, Atlanta, GA In the bag of "premium mulch" were many construction debris items like plastic and lumber, but the item that leads to my complaint is a board with two nails in it that was included in the mulch. Clearly this is not safe and not expected to be in a bag of premium hardwood mulch.
We bought about 30 bags of Vigoro black mulch (2cu.ft size) from the local Home Depot. Inside one of the bags was a VERY large piece of glass from an old style [REDACTED] bottle. The edges of the glass are sharp and if not for the fact that I was wearing gloves, I would have been cut badly on the hand while spreading the mulch. It was clear that the bag had not been tampered with, and that the glass bottle had been packed down inside the mulch at the source. The oddest part is that the bottle looks to be vintage?
Within minutes of opening a fresh bag of Scotts Black Mulch [REDACTED] experienced severe throat burning and was hospitalized in ICU with respiratory failure.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to fertilizers, not specified on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are fertilizers, not specified?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, fertilizers, not specified have a danger score of 35/100 (low risk). An estimated 3,004 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from fertilizers, not specified?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 5,154 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from fertilizers, not specified increasing or decreasing?
Down 22% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for fertilizers, not specified injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 13,400 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by fertilizers, not specified?
Of all ER visits involving fertilizers, not specified, approximately 6.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (93.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with fertilizers, not specified?
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 Farm & Dairy Equipment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 35/100 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 5-14 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.
