Glass Tubing Or Test Tubes
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.
Containers & Packaging · CPSC Code 1124
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Glass Tubing Or Test Tubes carry a danger score of 30/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 375 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 30/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 375
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 4.4%
- end in hospital admission
- 15-24
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1124 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 30/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for glass tubing or test tubes - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume375 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)4.4%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-0%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Glass Tubing Or Test Tubes (CPSC product code 1124, in the Containers & Packaging category) generate an estimated 375 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 7,494 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 30/100 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 2008 (725 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2019 (188 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for glass tubing or test tubes is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 2,838 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the hand (1,163 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 3,162 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 4.4% 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 glass tubing or test tubes 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 | 200 | 202 | |
| 5-14 | 813 | 515 | |
| 15-24 | 1,981 | 1,181 | |
| 25-34 | 851 | 292 | |
| 35-44 | 131 | 179 | |
| 45-54 | 188 | 87 | |
| 55-64 | 357 | 211 | |
| 65-74 | 79 | 62 | |
| 75+ | 0 | 168 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Lower Trunk | Foreign Body | |
| Finger | Foreign Body | |
| Internal | Ingestion | |
| Hand | Foreign Body | |
| Finger | Puncture | |
| Eyeball | Derma/conjunct | |
| Face | Other | |
| Pubic Region | Foreign Body | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Finger | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Puncture |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
18 YOM INJURED FINGER, IN CHEMISTRY CLASS, TODAY, BROKE A BEAKER. DX- LACERATION LEFT THUMB
14YOM LACERATIONS TO BOTH HANDS AFTER BEAKER SHATTERED IN SCIENCE CLASS. DX: LACERATION OF RIGHT HAND WITHOUT FOREIGN BODY; LACERATION OF LEFT HAND WITHOUT FOREIGN BODY.
21YOM WAS IN CHEMISTRY CLASS AND THE BEAKER OR GRADUATED CYLINDER BROKE CUTTING HIS LEFT THUMB DX: LACERATION OF LEFT THUMB
18YOM CUT THUMB TODAY WHILE IN CLASS, FLASK IN CHEMISTRY CLASS BROKE, DX LAC TO FINGER
47YOM PT'S FRIEND WAS HAVING A SCHIZOPHRENIC EPISODE & STRUCK PT IN THE EAR WITH PIECE OF JAGGED GLASS TUBE CONTAINING DRUG RESIDUE DX: EAR ABRASION
20 YOM TRIED TO REMOVE A CYLINDRICAL GLASS ENCASED MAGNET FROM HIS LEFT HAND, HE ATTEMPTED TO REMOVE IT WITH NO SUCCESS, HAS TO PUNCTURE MARKS, WANTS IT REMOVED.DX: FOREIGN BODY IN HAND AND LAC TO SKIN OF HAND
62YOM PUTTING HAND INTO A GLASS TUBE AND GLASS BROKEDX LAC HAND, W/ FB
29YOM CUT THUMB AND FINGER ON GLASS TUBES, DX LAC TO FINGERS
2yoF brought in by Mom after possibly ingestion anticoagulant from blood specimen tube, which contained Sodium Fluoride and Potassium, while at ***, a laboratory. Mom reports she saw no blood in tube, no blood or liquid around or inside mouth but wanted pt evaluated. DX: Hx of possible ingestion of foreign substance; Normal physical exam.
32 YOM REPORTS TWISTING A GLASS VIAL THAT BROKE CUTTING HIS FINGER. DX: LACERATION OF FINGER
24YOF CUT THUMB ON A PIECE OF GLASS FROM A BEAKER IN HER CHEMISTRY LAB. DX: RIGHT THUMB LAC.
16 MOF possibly swallowed some glass particles of an ampule. Pt was found playing with *** hair vitamins, mom could not find the glass ampule pieces and does not know if they were ingested by pt.DX: Enconter for medical screening examination
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to glass tubing or test tubes on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are glass tubing or test tubes?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, glass tubing or test tubes have a danger score of 30/100 (low risk). An estimated 375 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from glass tubing or test tubes?
The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 2,838 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from glass tubing or test tubes increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for glass tubing or test tubes injuries?
The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 3,162 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by glass tubing or test tubes?
Of all ER visits involving glass tubing or test tubes, approximately 4.4% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.6%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with glass tubing or test tubes?
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 Containers & Packaging
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 30/100 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.
