Wallpaper
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.
Building Materials & Home Structures · CPSC Code 1863
Down 28% over 5 years
The verdict
Wallpaper carry a danger score of 29/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 570 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 28% over the last five years.
- 29/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 570
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 4.7%
- end in hospital admission
- 45-54
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1863 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 29/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for wallpaper - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume570 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)4.7%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-28%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Wallpaper (CPSC product code 1863, in the Building Materials & Home Structures category) generate an estimated 570 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 11,408 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 29/100 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 28% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2009 (1,064 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (212 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for wallpaper is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 1,854 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by strain, sprain to the lower trunk (601 cases). The 45-54 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 2,645 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 4.7% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 1 consumer incident report filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how wallpaper 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 | 15 | 40 | |
| 5-14 | 50 | 22 | |
| 15-24 | 339 | 768 | |
| 25-34 | 937 | 747 | |
| 35-44 | 633 | 1,019 | |
| 45-54 | 633 | 2,012 | |
| 55-64 | 429 | 1,216 | |
| 65-74 | 379 | 1,032 | |
| 75+ | 104 | 1,036 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Lower Arm | Laceration | |
| Knee | Strain, Sprain | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Wrist | Fracture | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Shoulder | Other | |
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
81YOF C/O RT FOOT PAIN EDEMA AFTER DROPPING A ROLL OF WALLPAPER ON HER FOOT ABOUT 5 DAYS AGO DX: ACUTE PAIN EDEMA RT FOOT
65YOF, WAS STANDING ON A STEP STOOL IN THE BATHTUB HANGING WALLPAPER WHEN THE STOOL SLIPPED OUT FROM UNDERNEATH HER AND FELL DX: CONTUSION OF RIB ON RIGHT SIDE; CONTUSION OF RIGHT ELBOW
24YOF, WAS PUTTING UP WALLPAPER A WEEK AGO WHEN SHE TWISTED HER ANKLE DX: ACUTE LEFT ANKLE PAIN
54YOM STS HE WAS REMOVING WALL PAPER AT HIS HOME THIS MORNING. THE BLADE HE WAS USING SLIPPED & STRUCK HIS R HAND JUST PROXIMAL TO THE THUMB. DX: RIGHT HAND LACERATION
38YOM INSTALLING WALLPAPER AND SLASHED FINGER ON RAZOR BLADE DX: LACERATION OF RIGHT MIDDLE FINGER
32YOF FELL TRYING TO TAKE WALLPAPER OFF A WALL. DX: DISLOCATION FOOT
66YOM TAKING WALL PAPER DOWN IN HIS BATHROOM, HE SLIPPED AND FELL, DX: STRAINED RT KNEE
72YOF PATIENT STATES 5 TO 6 DAYS AGO SHE WAS PUTTING UP WALLPAPER IN HER HOUSE, SHE STARTED HAVING PAIN IN HER LEFT LOW BACK WHICH RADIATES DOWN HER LEFT LEG DX: ACUTE LEFT SIDED LOW BACK PAIN WITH LEFT SIDED SCIATICA
39YOM WAS REMOVING WALL PAPER WITH A WALL PAPER SCRAPER AND INJURED LEFT WRIST DX: WRIST INJURY PT LWOT
59 YOF. EYE PAIN, REDNESS & SWELLING WHEN THE PT WAS TAKING OFF WALLPAPER AT HER HOME. DX: FB OF LT EYE; CONJUNCTIVITIS OF EYE
18YOF FELT SENSATION OF DEBRIS IN NOSE WHILE HANGING WALLPAPER, TRIED TO REMOVE W/ TISSUE AND NOSE BEGAN TO BLEED, DX: EPISTAXIS
53 YOM DEVELOPED A SORE THROAT AFTER HE INHALED A CHEMICAL IN HIS APARTMENT THAT WAS USED TO REMOVE WALLPAPER. DX: CHEMICAL INHALATION INJURY
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
I was hired to install Wall Coverings on a new home. I encountered a very "pungent" hand made wallpaper that was supposed to be installed in a child's bedroom. When I opened the package I felt like I had been maced - eyes and skin both burning and an unsettling in my stomach. I reported the defective wall covering to the designers who had it remade. I refused to do the install because of how it impacted me and because the homeowner had voiced her concerns over VOC and the health of her child who had extreme allergies. I believe that the company is using toxic chemicals in the manufacturing of the wall coverings. I have never encountered anything like it in my 38 years installing.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to wallpaper on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are wallpaper?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, wallpaper have a danger score of 29/100 (low risk). An estimated 570 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from wallpaper?
The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 1,854 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from wallpaper increasing or decreasing?
Down 28% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for wallpaper injuries?
The 45-54 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 2,645 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by wallpaper?
Of all ER visits involving wallpaper, approximately 4.7% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.3%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with wallpaper?
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 Building Materials & Home Structures
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 29/100 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 45-54 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.
