Lye
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 969
Up 49% over 5 years
The verdict
Lye carry a danger score of 42/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 287 ER-treated injuries a year that are rising by about 49% over the last five years.
- 42/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 287
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 21.8%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 969 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 42/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for lye - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume287 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)21.8%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend+49%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Lye (CPSC product code 969, in the Home Workshop Tools & Equipment category) generate an estimated 287 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 5,452 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 42/100 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 rising by about 49% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2005 (564 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2013 (92 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for lye is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 1,386 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by burn, chemical to the face (781 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 1,285 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 21.8% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 2 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how lye 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 | 952 | 333 | |
| 5-14 | 71 | 74 | |
| 15-24 | 147 | 447 | |
| 25-34 | 330 | 219 | |
| 35-44 | 660 | 402 | |
| 45-54 | 933 | 183 | |
| 55-64 | 260 | 28 | |
| 65-74 | 131 | 107 | |
| 75+ | 34 | 139 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Face | Burn, Chemical | |
| Eyeball | Burn, Chemical | |
| Hand | Burn, Chemical | |
| Lower Arm | Burn, Chemical | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Eyeball | Derma/conjunct | |
| Foot | Burn, Chemical | |
| Knee | Burn, Chemical | |
| Mouth | Burn, Chemical | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Trunk | Burn, Chemical | |
| Face | Derma/conjunct | |
| Shoulder | Burn, Chemical | |
| All Parts Body | Other |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
49 YOM C/O REDNESS/PAIN TO HANDS FROM POSSIBLE CHEMICAL BURN WITH POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE WHILE MOVING CONTAINERS IN A SHED AT BROTHER HOUSE DX CHEMICAL BURNS TO HANDS
20YOM SPRAYED WITH A LYE TYPE CHEMICAL ON ARM. DX: CHEMICAL EXPOSURE, ARM
34 YOF WAS CLEANING WITH LYE AND SPILLED SOME OF IT, NOW HAS BURNING IN EYES. DX: CHEMICAL EXPOSURE BILATERAL EYES
48YOM PRESENTS WITH FACIAL BURNS. PATIENT STATES YESTERDAY HE WAS DUMPING THE LINE OF SEPTIC TANK, WORKING WITH BASIC CHEMICAL LYE WHEN IT SPLASHED UP AND GOT ONTO HIS FACE. DX: CHEMICAL BURN TO FACE AND EYE
60YOF STATES SHE WAS POURING LYE INTO A SINK WHEN IT EXPLODED BACK INTO FACE, DX: 4.5% TBSA CHEMICAL BURNS TO FACE, CHEMICAL BURNS TO BOTH EYES
43 YOM WAS MIXING LYE WITH ESSENTAIL OILS WHILE MAKING SOAP DX: ACCUTE TOXIC CONJUNCTIVITIS
4YOF WAS FOUND WITH WHITE RESIDUE AROUND LIPS GOT INTO SOME CAL LYE POWDER DX INGESTION OF A SUBSTANCE
84 YOF WAS FOUND WITH LYE NEAR HER, SWALLOWED SOME. DX: LYE CAUSING TOXIC EFFECT, UNDETERMINED INTENT, FACIAL SWELLING
16MOM PRESENTED TO ED C/O FOREIGN SUBTANCE, INGESTED LYE WATER (POTASSIUM CARBONATE AND SODIUM BI-CARBONATE SOLUTION) MOM IS UNSURE HOW MUCH THE CHILD INGESTED. DX; LYE INGESTION
4YOF WAS MAKING LYE SOAP ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER AND CHILD INGESTED THE LYE ABOUT 2.4 OZ IN A CONTAINER. , THEN CHLLD VOMITED AND HAS MOUTH AND THROAT PAIN. DX: INGESTION OF CORROSIVE CHEMICAL
15YOF PT WAS IN CHEMISTRY CLASS MAKING SOAP, TOUCHED POWDERED LYE, IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FINGER - C/O NUMBNESS TO FINGER & AROUND MOUTH DX: TOXIC EFFECT OF SODIUM HYDROXIDE, ALLERGIC REACTION #
37YOF WAS MAKING SOUP, WHEN SHE GOT SOME LYE IN HER RIGHT EYE. DX: PAIN AROUND RIGHT EYE, TOXIC EFFECT OF CAUSTIC ALKALI UNINTENTIONAL
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
A toddler got into his mother's soap making lye and burned his mouth, requiring general anesthesia. Luckily he'll be OK, but the container is not child-proofed.
My son had a school project to create something, so he decided to make his own "natural" soap. The recipe we found online called for the use of lye. So we utilized it, following the directions on the package. We made ten different containers of soap, one to turn in as his project and the others to give out to family and friends. When we set the containers on the floor to settle the lye burned a whole through the containers and caused damage to my hardwood floors, eating the polyurethane and discoloring my floor.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to lye on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are lye?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, lye have a danger score of 42/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 287 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from lye?
The most common injury is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 1,386 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from lye increasing or decreasing?
Up 49% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for lye injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 1,285 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by lye?
Of all ER visits involving lye, approximately 21.8% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (78.3%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with lye?
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 42/100 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.
