Eye Safety Awareness And Fireworks

The Fourth of July Holiday is here, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology wants the public to know that fireworks are not toys, they are flammable gadgets that can cause devastating eye injuries. In the U.S. Tomorrow is that big celebration day, July 4th, 2023, and this month is Fireworks Awareness Safety Month. Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars yearly on consumer fireworks. In 2020 there were approximately 15,600 injuries resulting in a trip to hospital emergency rooms. Insights from a 2017 study suggest that there were approximately 13,000 fireworks injuries and 8 deaths, and a simple fireworks gadget like sparklers was responsible for 1,200 injuries.  Injuries and death from 2017 to 2020 increased by 20% and 125% respectively.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that in 2022 that there were 11 non-occupational, fireworks-related deaths in 2022. Five of the deaths were due to firework misuse, three deaths were associated with a device misfire/malfunction, a device tip-over caused one death, and two incidents were due to unknown circumstances. There were approximately 10,200 injuries due to fireworks injuries in 2022.

CPSC reported that in 2022 approximately 14% of fireworks injuries were eye injuries.  The most cases fireworks can rupture the eye globe resulting in chemical and thermal burns, corneal abrasion, and retinal detachment, which can lead to permanent eye damage ad vision loss.  It is important to note that 65% of fireworks injuries were to bystanders. Children and others not holding fireworks are in as much danger as the people lighting the fireworks. Sparklers may seem harmless. However, they are dangerous and burn at more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and were responsible for 1,495 of injuries in 2022.