CPSC NEISS · code 1659

Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools

Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools: danger rank #173 of 838 is not ER-volume rank #123 of 838 (19,237 estimated ER visits a year; roughly flat over the last five years).

Personal Care & Safety Products CPSC NEISS through 2024

Danger score versus ER volume

Danger score versus ER volume

According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2024, Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools ranks #173 of 838 by danger score (40/100) at ER-volume #123 of 838 (19,237/yr). They are not the same ranking.

#173
danger rank of 838
#123
ER-volume rank of 838
40/100
danger score
19,237/yr
estimated ER visits (avg)

Danger score combines injury volume, hospitalization, fatality, and five-year trend. ER volume is the average annual NEISS estimate alone. Rank 1 is highest on each list.

Where this category's danger score sits nationally

Danger score (40/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories

40 Higher than most more dangerous than 75% of 838 product categories

scored CPSC product categories, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more product categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source CPSC NEISS, PlainSafety danger-score model · 2024

Composite verdict

Composite Safety Score: 59/100

One verdict blending 4 independently-sourced dimensions from two separate CPSC systems, each benchmarked against all 838 scored product categories by percentile rather than raw value, so no single huge-volume category can dominate the scale.

C
Dimension Value National percentile Weight applied Source
Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) 5 38th 35% CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index
Annual ER injury volume 19,237 81st 30% CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries
5-year injury trend +3% 70th 15% CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries
Consumer incident reports 17 54th 20% CPSC SaferProducts.gov public incident report count

Methodology: each dimension is ranked against the full population's p10/p25/p50/p75/p90 breakpoints and interpolated to a 0-100 percentile; the composite is the weighted average of available percentiles. See methodology for the full benchmark table.

Where 384,751 estimated ER injuries land on the body

Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 1659. Segments sum to 384,751 - a body-map mix, not a danger score or ER-volume rank.

Two danger lenses

Same-group peer scores and this product's dial

The bars compare PlainSafety danger scores inside the Personal Care & Safety Products group (same CPSC NEISS extract). The dial is this product's score alone on the Low/Moderate/High bands. Do not read a peer bar as an ER-visit count.

Personal Care & Safety Products danger scores

1. Massage Devices Or Vibrat…52/1002. Day Wear48/1003. Coins46/1004. Footwear46/1005. Fuel Multi-purpose Lighte…45/1006. Lighters, Not Specified45/1007. Nightwear45/1008. Manicure, Pedicure, And M…40/100
Higher score = higher composite danger in this group. Peer set is other scored products sharing the same CPSC group.
0/100100/10040/100
PlainSafety danger score · Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2024

How this 40/100 score is built

The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools - no opinion, no editorializing:

  • Injury volume 19,237 ER visits/yr High volume
  • Severity (hospitalization rate) 4.5% Below median admission rate
  • Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
  • 5-year trend+3%

Band labels compare this category against the corpus of 838 scored CPSC product categories, see the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.

What the CPSC Data Shows

Across the 20-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2024, injury counts for manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (30,891 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2006 (8,678 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is other to the toe, accounting for approximately 95,549 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by other to the finger (57,687 cases). The 25-34 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 51,752 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 4.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.

Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 17 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools 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)

5K10K15K20K25K30K35K 20052008201120142017202020232024 31K
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 2024

Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only

Who Gets Injured?

Age Group Male Female Total
0-4 25,436 25,662 51,098
5-14 10,938 12,638 23,674
15-24 16,778 28,351 45,129
25-34 19,261 32,491 51,752
35-44 16,626 27,327 43,953
45-54 20,354 24,624 44,978
55-64 21,964 22,485 44,518
65-74 17,306 17,592 34,898
75+ 22,945 21,780 44,725

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Toe Other 95,549
Finger Other 57,687
Toe Laceration 34,158
Finger Laceration 32,379
Ear Foreign Body 17,310
Toe Avulsion 16,577
Finger Avulsion 12,570
Foot Other 12,042
Eyeball Contusions, Abr. 9,544
Toe Contusions, Abr. 6,882
Finger Contusions, Abr. 5,617
Face Foreign Body 5,486
Face Other 5,359
Lower Trunk Other 3,617
Ear Other 3,233

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 92.5% (356,029)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 4.3% (16,713)
Left Without Being Seen 2.3% (8,927)
Treated And Transferred 0.4% (1,725)
Held For Observation 0.3% (1,265)
Unknown, Not Stated 0.0% (92)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 80 · Female · Toe · Avulsion · 2024

80YOF PRESENTS TO ED FOR NAIL PROBLEM. PT HAD DM, ISSUES W/ TOENAILS, DAUGHTER CUTTING TOENAILS, RT FIFTH TOENAIL GROWING INTO SKIN, UNFORTUNATELY WHEN CUT IT CAUSED WOUND AND SOME BLEEDING. CONCERNED BECAUSE OF DM SO CAME TO ED. UPON EXAM FOUND SMALL C-SHAPED AREA ON TIP OF RT FIFTH PINKY TOE THAT IS LESS TAHN CENTIMETER W/ SCANT AMOUNT OF BLOOD. DX: OPEN WOUND OF TOE

Age 11 · Female · Ear · Foreign Body · 2024

11YOF PRESENTS AFTER *** BROKE OFF IN HER EAR WHILE SHE WAS CLEANING HER EARS, MOTHER REPORTS SHE TRIED TO REMOVE WITH TWEEZERS BUT MOVED IT FURTHER INTO EAR. DX: ACUTE FOREIGN BODY OF LEFT EAR

Age 55 · Female · Toe · Laceration · 2024

55 YOF CUT TOENAIL TOO SHORT WITH CLIPPER DX: LAC TOE

Age 58 · Female · Toe · Other · 2024

58YOF PRESENT TO ED W/ R GREAT TOE PX.PT WAS CLIPPING HER TOENAILS2WK AGO ACCIDENTALLLY NICKED HER TOE.HAS MILD DISCOMFORT IN AREA WHEN SHE PUSHES ON IT OR SHE ACTUALLY KICKED SOMETHING.PCP GOT XR HAS C/F OSTEOMYELITIS SENT TO EDDX:OSTEOMYELITIS OF R FOOT

Age 216 · Female · Finger · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

16 MOF MOTHER WAS CLIPPING NAILS AND INJURED FINGER DX ABRASION FINGER

Age 25 · Female · Finger · Other · 2024

25 YOF-HAD A MANICURE-THE INDEX FINGER CUTICLE GOT CUT-BECAME INFECTED DX: RIGHT INDEX FINGER PARONYCHIA

Age 31 · Male · Toe · Other · 2024

31 YOM WITH RIGHT TOE PAIN X 4 DAYS AFTER CUTTING HIS TOENAILS. DX CELLULITIS TOE RIGHT FOOT

Age 32 · Male · Finger · Other · 2024

32 YOM WITH LEFT 4TH DIGIT PAIN X 3 DAYS AFTER DOING A MANICURE. DX ONYCHIA AND PARONYCHIA

Age 2 · Male · Toe · Other · 2024

2YOM PT HAD TOENAILS CLIPPED ON LEFT GREAT TOE. C/O AREA BEING SWOLLEN & ERYTHEMATOUS DX: PARONYCHIA

Age 67 · Male · Toe · Laceration · 2024

67YOM PT WAS ATTEMPTING TO CUT TOENAILS & CUT NAIL CAUSING A LAC NO DX

Age 36 · Male · Toe · Hemorrhage · 2024

36YOM WITH INGROWN TOENAIL AND TRIED TO CUT IT TODAY AND DEVELOPED SOME BLEEDING AND PAIN DX: INGROWN TOENAIL OF LEFT FOOT

Age 29 · Female · Foot · Other · 2024

29YOF WITH PAIN TO HEEL S.P RECENT PEDICURE. PT STATES THEY SHAVED DOWN THE CALLUSES ON HER HEELS DX: CELLULITIS

Consumer Incident Reports

Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.

8/30/2022 · Injury, First Aid Received by Non-Medical Professional · Aduro Products · Missouri

Spinning pedicure left black file shards embedded in users skin on foot.

8/29/2016 · Injury, First Aid Received by Non-Medical Professional · ALLSTAR PRODUCTS GROUP · United Kingdom

Using this device to trim my disabled wife's thumb nail. It pulled-in her skin round the cutter. Could not separate it from her thumb. Had to dismantle the device to release her skin.  This resulted in a bad laceration to the top of her thumb and lots of pain and blood. The drive mechanism had then broken under the strain. Pictures available ...

8/28/2012 · Incident, No Injury · Star Nail International Headquarters · Illinois

I was using the StarPro 36 Watt UV Nail Dryer in the salon I work at to dry the shallac on the nail. I noticed the light was flickering so I went to shut the machine off and it made a very loud pop and blew flames out the vent in the back. Then black smoke started to roll out and it smelled like burnt plastic. I immediately unplugged the light from the outlet and blew on the flame trying to put it out. Once the fame was out and the machine cool I pulled out the fuse to see what it looked like and I realized that the fuse never even blew. I then called the manufacturer and told them what happened. They did not seem all that comcerned but said if I would mail it back to them they would mail me a new one as soon as I called them with a tracking number. So I did. I called them today and was informed that they don't have any in and won't until after the Sept 7th. I am concerned that they know there is a problem but are not being honest and upfront about it. I do not want anyone else experienceing this problem and possibly getting burnt. I was just lucky.

7/28/2021 · Incident, No Injury · HOMEDICS, INC. · Texas

I purchased a Homedics Nail spa kit that included a power adapter. This same adapter power cord covering began to crumble with only a few years of use. I disposed of the power adapter due to the covering no longer protecting the wiring. I believe this same power adapter could pose a risk of shock with continued use because of the lack of wire covering.

6/28/2014 · Incident, No Injury · Toy's R Us · Florida

The item is a pair of baby nail clippers. The piece that holds the handle to the clippers broke off whilst clipping my 3 month old son's nails. It flung off mid-cut and flew across the room, hitting the opposite wall. If it had flown any other direction, it could have hit either my son, or myself in the eye, or face. It is very dangerous!

5/13/2024 · Incident, No Injury · Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, Inc. · Massachusetts

Dr. Scholl's Hard Skin Remover Nano Glass Foot File is a file made with glass to remove dead skin from your feet. The glass panel on mine fell out while I was using it in the shower. The glass was not properly secured in the handle.

4/7/2025 · Incident, No Injury · Fridababy · United States

I used this product to clean my baby's nail as advertised. It made my baby finger to bleed and cut through his skin. The plastic tip is really hard and sharp and should not be used for baby at all. I was holding him firm and he just wiggled a little bit, the sharp tip made him bleed immediately. Its very dangerous and can hurt children. I strongly believe this product should not targeting to use on baby.

4/12/2016 · Incident, No Injury · Shenzhen FFRan Tech Co.,Ltd. · Iowa

eBay Product Information Item Number: 371410160526 04/12/2016 - The consumer was painting her nails and when it was time to cure them, she turned the curing lamp on to no avail. A couple of seconds later, the unit starting sparking and smoking and eventually caught fire. The consumer immediately unplugged the unit and placed it on her tile floor; this ceased the fire. The unit continued to smoke afterwards and it sparked a few times. The consumer indicates that unit has a fuse in the back that never blew up. The consumer states that her home smelled of electrical burning afterwards. The consumer contacted her Fire Department but they did not come out as the fire had been set out already. The consumer indicates that prior to the incident, the unit was used only once and it worked perfectly fine. The consumer plans on keeping the unit for at least the next thirty days in case an investigation ensues.

Showing 8 of 17 reports.

Product Recalls

Search for active and past recalls related to manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools on the CPSC website.

Compare beyond Personal Care & Safety Products

Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization

Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools: cross-group products nearest on danger score (40/100), estimated annual ER visits (19,237/yr), and hospitalization share (4.5%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.

Read with this product

About this data

CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports form the basis of this page. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.

According to PlainSafety's CPSC NEISS corpus ranking, Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools ranks #173 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #123 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools rank on danger score versus ER volume?

Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools ranks #173 by PlainSafety danger score (40/100) and #123 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (19,237/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.

What are the most common injuries from manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools?

The most common injury is other to the toe, accounting for approximately 95,549 injuries over 20 years.

Are injuries from manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools increasing or decreasing?

Stable over 5 years.

Who is most at risk for manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools injuries?

The 25-34 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 51,752 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.

What happens when someone is injured by manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools?

Of all ER visits involving manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools, approximately 4.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.

How can I report a safety problem with manicure, pedicure, and make-up brushes/tools?

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.

Data on Manicure, Pedicure, And Make-up Brushes/tools is compiled directly from CPSC NEISS and SaferProducts.gov records, current through 2024. See our methodology for details.

Disclaimer: This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.

PlainSafety is rendered directly from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall and incident records, no number is typed in by an editor. Product recall timelines and hazard labels are drawn from CPSC recall records for this product. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.