Lamp Oils
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 964
Down 72% over 5 years
The verdict
Lamp Oils carry a danger score of 35/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 447 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 72% over the last five years.
- 35/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 447
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 22.6%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 964 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 35/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for lamp oils - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume447 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)22.6%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-72%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Lamp Oils (CPSC product code 964, in the Home Workshop Tools & Equipment category) generate an estimated 447 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 8,943 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 72% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2005 (1,064 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2022 (78 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for lamp oils is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 5,323 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by derma/conjunct to the eyeball (355 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 5,492 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 22.6% 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 lamp oils 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 | 4,020 | 1,472 | |
| 5-14 | 333 | 263 | |
| 15-24 | 354 | 233 | |
| 25-34 | 16 | 439 | |
| 35-44 | 236 | 336 | |
| 45-54 | 121 | 201 | |
| 55-64 | 223 | 319 | |
| 65-74 | 32 | 194 | |
| 75+ | 0 | 156 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Eyeball | Derma/conjunct | |
| All Parts Body | Anoxia | |
| Lower Arm | Burns, Thermal | |
| Face | Burns, Thermal | |
| Hand | Burn, Scald | |
| Hand | Burns, Thermal | |
| Lower Leg | Burns, Thermal | |
| Face | Derma/conjunct | |
| Upper Trunk | Burns, Thermal | |
| Internal | Aspiration | |
| Face | Burn, Scald | |
| Upper Leg | Burn, Chemical | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Upper Trunk | Burn, Chemical |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
2 YOF INGESTED OPEN BOTTLE OF LAMP OIL ON COUNTER. DX ACCIDENTAL HYDROCARBON INGESTION
64YOF, COMING IN AFTER SHE TOUCHED THE HOT METAL SURFACE OF AN OIL LAMP AT HOME 1 HOUR AGO, SUBSEQUENTLY BURNING HER LEFT INDEX FINGER, DX: BURN
19MOF TOOK A SIP OF LAMP OIL. DX INGESTION
23MOF WITH AN INGESTION OF SUBSTANCE. FATHER REPORTS THAT AROUND 6 PM TONIGHT THEY CAUGHT PATIENT WITH AN OPEN BOTTLE OF ESSENTIAL OILS. FATHER REPORTS THAT HE IS CONCERNED THAT THE ESSENTIAL OILS IS AN ASPIRIN DERIVATIVE.
51 YOF SPILLED SOME LAMP OIL ON HER SHIRT WHICH CAUGHT FIRE 7 DAYS AGO. SHE PULLED HER SHIRT OFF AND PROMPTLY WENT TO THE SHOWER. WAS SEEN AT CLINIC TODAY AND ADVISED TO PRESENT TO ED +BURNS BILATERAL UPPER EXTREMITIES AND ABDOMEN FD NSDX: PARTIAL THICKNESS BURNS MULTIPLE SITES.
49YOM WAS CLEANING HIS EAR WITH AN INSTILLED BULB SOLUTION AND THEN 2 HOURS LATER NOTICED SEVERE RIGHT EAR PAIN WITH DRAINAGE. DX: ACUTE EAR PAIN
35YOM, SPILLED HOT ?OIL LAMP ONTO HAND DX: SUPERFACIAL BURN
2YOF was with grandmother and she accidentally put *** torch fuel in bubble bottle. She was coughing and then vomited 10-15 times. DX: ingestion of hydrocarbon, vomiting, cough
18YOF WAS PUTTING OIL IN A LANTERN / TEMPERED GLASS LAMP AND IT BROKE CUTTING HER RIGHT THUMB DX: RIGHT THUMB LACERATION
2yom ingested some *** oil DX: ingestion of a hydrocarbon
17MOM PRESENTS AFTER INGESTION OF LAMP FUEL (LIQUID PARAFIN). PT OPENED CAN OF LAMP FUEL WITH A WICK AND SUCKED ON WIK. DX: INGESTION OF SUBSTANCE
3YOM INGESTION OF LAMP OIL, FOUND WITH IT SPILLED ON SHIRT, UNSURE IF HE DRANK THE FLUID; DX: SUSPECTED LAMP OIL INGESTION
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to lamp oils on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are lamp oils?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, lamp oils have a danger score of 35/100 (low risk). An estimated 447 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from lamp oils?
The most common injury is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 5,323 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from lamp oils increasing or decreasing?
Down 72% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for lamp oils injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 5,492 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by lamp oils?
Of all ER visits involving lamp oils, approximately 22.6% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (77.4%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with lamp oils?
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 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 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.
