Cuts to the skin were the most common type of injuries, while bruises and scrapes were the second most common injury. Bone fractures came in third.
For children under five years old, however, the most common injuries were linked to ingestion and internal injuries from ingesting small balls, water beads or pieces of toys.
Most childhood toy deaths were linked to choking hazards from small objects or crayons, followed by drownings linked to flotation toys, entrapment from toy chests, and swallowing water beads.
Thousands of children have suffered serious injuries after ingesting water beads in recent years, which occur when the small spheres rapidly expand after coming into contact with liquid in the digestive tract. This can result in intestinal blockages, severe abdominal pain, dehydration and other life-threatening injuries, which often require emergency surgery.
Federal safety officials also highlighted risks associated with toys that contain lead, a toxic heavy metal that can cause serious health side effects in children. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 1.6 million illegal toys in 2024 so far, of those 102,000 were due to lead contamination.
Following substantial efforts in recent years to recall dangerous toys from the U.S. market, the CPSC notes that the number of serious injuries experienced by children under 15 years old has dropped by 5% since 2016, while ER visits linked to toys among children under 13 has dropped by 8% over that same period.
Seasonal Child Injuries
Aside from injuries linked to consumer toys, the CPSC also indicated in a Holiday Safety notice that cooking fires and Christmas decorations lead to many seasonal child injuries.
The commission noted that there are more than 352,000 residential fires every year and cooking accounts for nearly half of those. Cooking fires spike on Thanksgiving Day, resulting in an average of 1,400 cooking fires on Thanksgiving every year.
The CPSC offered recommendations to help consumers prevent toy-related injuries this holiday season and in the year to come:
- Follow age recommendations for toys and other safety information on packaging.
- Get safety gear such as helmets for riding toys.
- Keep small balls and toys with small parts away from young children.
- Never leave food cooking unattended on the stove or in the oven.
- Only fry a turkey outside and away from flammable materials.
- Remember to water a live Christmas tree or buy a fire-resistant artificial tree.