Call Kurtis Investigation: Bathroom Glass Exploding Without Warning

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Tempered glass products used in bathrooms could be putting you and your family at risk

"It was like an explosion, a total explosion," said Sacramento resident Fran Littrell.

After hearing the explosion, "Oh I was petrified," "there was just glass everywhere," she said.

Fran's bathroom sink had jagged edges where the glass used to connect to the drain, razor sharp spikes in the same sink where her family washed their faces and brushed their teeth.

"This is some of the big pieces that we picked up," she said.

The tempered glass sink exploded all over her bathroom in the middle of the night.

"We didn't know if we were being broken into or what was going on," said Fran.

People all over the country are posting videos on YouTube of tempered glass in their bathrooms shattering without warning.

"Glass just everywhere."

"It was my vessel sink exploding with no one in here."

"It just exploded."

Sinks are not the only problem; since 1978 tempered glass, shower doors have killed 98-people in the United States.

Showering before bed without warning 9-year old Oliver Kwilisnky's shower door exploded.

Sharp glass cutting up his arm and leg, "It just shattered like a bomb," said Oliver. "I was shaking. It was really scary," he said.

His mom Amy says it sounded like an airplane crashed into the house.

"There was glass all the way to the door of the bathroom," she said.

In addition, a 7-year old girl from Southern California required staples, and stitches after her shower door shattered.

Glass expert Mark Meshulam explains the potential dangers.

"Inside this glass right now is 10,000 pounds per square inch of internal stress," he said.

Tempered glass is considered a safety glass because it is supposed to shatter into tiny pieces.

Mark says that does not always happen leaving dangerous jagged pieces and says it is an industry problem. "There are no industry standards," he said.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says on average there are about 3-hundred injuries from shattered shower doors each year and since 2011, it has received seven complaints of sinks shattering.

The agency in 2013 admitted "failure" and "neglect" in keeping up with certain glass standards. The CPSC are now working to update standards, although they wouldn't give us a timetable when that'll happen.

"I'm out of a sink," said Fran. However, after we got involved the store where she bought her glass sink 2 years ago let her pick out a new one. However, this time she went with porcelain.

"I didn't want to take a chance of having it blowing up again," she said.

Fran is not alone; other families have traded in their tempered glass bathroom products after their kids got hurt when glass exploded in their bathrooms.

"We don't want another glass door there…, we've put up a shower curtain," said Amy.

Mark says you can make your shower door safer by adding a protective film or laminate over the glass.

Therefore, if there is a break the glass stays together much as a windshield does when it is hit.

As for sinks, he suggest purchasing a higher quality glass and warns people to be very careful not to drop anything on it, even the slightest chip could cause an explosion.