New report: Injuries from hazardous consumer products hit 8-year high in 2024

Unsafe products from tools to toys posed threats

CLEVELAND – Unsafe consumer products led to more injuries in 2024 than in any of the previous seven years. The Consumer Product Safety Commission linked 869 injuries to products recalled during the year, according to Safe At Home in 2025?, a U.S. PIRG Education Fund analysis of Consumer Product Safety Commission data. 

That total is up dramatically from the 549 injuries reported in 2023 and is more than double the number of injuries reported in 2020.

In addition to the injuries, at least 25 people died in cases that were linked to unsafe products. The CPSC connected 15 of those deaths to products that were recalled. Some of the most disturbing incidents involved three brands of adult bed rails that entrapped older folks, infant swings connected to five deaths and various electrical products connected to other deaths. The other 10 people died in cases linked to products whose makers’ wouldn’t agree to a recall, so the CPSC had only one response option: an urgent warning. Products named in warnings were also linked to 31 injuries.

“This is gut-wrenching on so many levels,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog director for U.S. PIRG Education Fund and author of the analysis. “We wonder how many of those nearly 900 injuries and 25 deaths could have been avoided because some hazardous products took months or years to recall — if they were recalled at all — or when people continued to use dangerous products because they didn’t know about the risk.”

The CPSC issued 305 recall announcements in 2024, involving everything from tools to toys to tumblers. That’s down slightly from the 323 recall notices in 2023. Curiously, fewer unsafe products caused significantly more injuries. The CPSC linked injuries and deaths to products ranging from bikes to beds. In all, more than 83 million hazardous products were recalled. The analysis found that one-third of recalled products were sold only online, and those online-only purchases were twice as likely to have violated a testable federal safety standard. 

“We have more products available to meet our needs than at any time in our history. With this abundance comes an obligation to ensure that those products are tested and comply with safety standards,” said U.S. PIRG Education Fund President Faye Park. “Online shopping has only upped the urgency of product safety. It’s even more difficult to tell if something is safe when you can’t see it in person before you buy it.” 

As the popularity of online shopping increases, the government faces other challenges, including how to increase the likelihood that products entering our country comply with U.S. safety standards. Our consumer guide includes tips on how to shop smarter online by focusing not just on price and trying to avoid products likely to violate safety standards or be counterfeit.

Other sobering findings:

• 568 fires were reported in connection with products recalled in 2024. Fires stemmed from products including two brands of electric ranges, various lithium-ion batteries, grass trimmers and battery chargers.
• The fires, injuries and deaths were among more than 10,000 incidents reported in connection with products recalled in 2024. Less serious incidents included biometric gun safes that were opened by unauthorized users whose fingerprints weren’t paired, including a 6-year-old boy, and reports of multiple bicycles having their frames separate.
• In addition to the 305 recalls, the CPSC in 2024 issued 63 warnings about hazardous products after companies refused to cooperate with a recall or didn’t respond to the regulator. This compares with 38 warnings the year before and and more than in the previous nine years combined.

See our consumer guides with tips to stay safe:

Tips to shop smarter and safer and avoid hazardous products

Counterfeit products: How to tell whether you bought one