Serious eye injuries associated with fireworks--United States, 1990-1994.

Eye injuries caused by fireworks are often severe and can cause permanently reduced visual acuity or blindness. Findings from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) indicate that approximately 12,000 persons are treated each year in U.S. emergency departments because of fireworks-related injuries; of these, an estimated 20% are eye injuries. To improve characterization of fireworks-related eye injuries, data were analyzed from the United States Eye Injury Registry (USEIR) for July 1990-December 1994 and from the Eye Injury Registry of Alabama (EIRA) for August 1982-July 1989. This report summarizes the findings of these analyses.