Glass Tables May Be Safety Threat

While glass doors and windshields must contain tempered glass, there’s no such safety rule for glass-topped tables or those with glass panels, including patio furniture.

According to Consumers Union, incidents involving glass furniture account for more than 20,000 serious injuries per year.

If you find a glass table you like that’s advertised as containing tempered glass, you’re in luck. There’s no way to tell by looking whether glass is tempered. If you can’t obtain accurate info from the manufacturer, the safer option may be to look for another table.

According to a recent study published in Pediatric Emergency Care, glass table injuries are associated with “significant morbidity.” The study, which looked at injuries among children, concluded that more than half of the incidents studied may have been prevented or mitigated with the use of tempered glass.

According to hospital records used in the study, the median age of children injured was 3.4 years (62.1% males), and 45.6% of the injuries involved the face.

The study authors advise pediatricians to discourage the purchase of non-tempered glass tables.

(Sources: Pediatric Emergency Care and Children’s Hospital Boston.)

(Image via CoffeeTable Showroom)