The Consumer Product Safety Commission prevents hazardous fireworks from reaching the hands of American consumers by working jointly with U.S. Customs staff at major ports of entry. Through these efforts, an estimated 40 million pounds of fireworks that violated fireworks regulations were prevented from entering the United States between 1988 and 1994.
Fireworks were associated with almost 13,000 injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms in 1994; 9,000 injuries occurred in the month of July alone. Children under the age of 15 sustained more than 5,000 injuries from fireworks during this time period. These injuries can result in the loss of an eye, blindness, and even death. Yearly societal costs are estimated at $100 million.
The risk of injury
per 100,000 pounds of fireworks shipped has dropped substantially since the mid-1970's. The risk
decreased from an average of 42.8 injuries per 100,000 pounds shipped in 1976-1978 to an
average of 21.2 injuries per 100,000 pounds shipped in 1991-1993. Without the fireworks
regulations and compliance activities, the number of injuries would have increased to
approximately 27,000 injuries annually, about double the number of injuries from fireworks
reported in 1994.
Recently, CPSC addressed the hazards from large multiple tube mine and shell fireworks devices through revision of the existing regulations. These devices are non-reloadable multiple shot devices designed to fire shells or comets into the air sequentially when a single fuse is ignited. The lift force may create a rocking motion that can cause the device to tip over before the last tube fires, resulting in the horizontal discharge of the remaining shells or comets. Two deaths have resulted from tip-over of large multiple tube devices (with tube diameters of at least 1.5 inches), one each in 1991 and 1992.
The Commission is now considering a final rule for a mandatory performance standard to address the tip-over hazard with large multiple tube devices. Commission staff is also currently evaluating the injuries and deaths associated with other types of fireworks devices to provide options for Commission consideration of revisions to other fireworks regulations to reduce the hazards associated with their use.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from the
unreasonable risk of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's
jurisdiction.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury and for information on
CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter
at (800) 638-8270.
Consumers can also report product hazards via electronic mail by sending a message to
info@cpsc.gov.
Comments: info@cpsc.gov
Revised: May 5, 1996
URL: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/success/firework.html