Special Report: Too Hard To Handle

You try scissors. A kitchen knife. A can opener.

"I've used my teeth."

A screwdriver. A box cutter. Just to open one of those suddenly everywhere impenetrable plastic packages.

"They're so frustrating."

"It's a real pain."

You struggle, you rip, you pull.

"I've sliced my hand open using a knife trying to cut it open."

But the dense plastic and the sealed edges won't budge!

"I get incredibly ticked off."

And our investigation finds this super tight packaging that is used on more and more products may not only lead to "wrap rage" -- it's dangerous. We obtained these injury reports from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and in the last four years more than 27,000 people went to the emergency room with "lacerations" and "puncture wounds." People stabbed and cut and sliced by plastic packages, 27,000 people!

This Boston emergency room doctor has treated some of them.

Hank Phillippi Ryan, 7News
"This is very sealed, even the edges are sharp, so what do you think about this package?"

Dr. Christian Arbelaez, ER Doctor
"It's an accident waiting to happen."

Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton accidentally stabbed himself in the stomach with a small knife trying to open a plastic package and had to be benched. This blogger guru got gashed with a knife trying to rip open a package of headphones.

Chris Parillo, Software guru
"I know how to handle myself around sharp objects and I've cut myself."

Retailers say stiff packaging keeps imported products from getting crushed or damaged. They're also trying to stop 13 billion dollars a year in shoplifting losses. Their theory: rigid plastic keeps products sealed inside making them tougher to steal.

Hank Phillippi Ryan, 7News
"When consumers complain about these, what do you tell them?"

Kasey Chroust, Retail Industry Leaders Association,
"Which is more frustrating -- struggling to get a package open or opening that package and finding that the product is missing, it's been stolen, or components are gone, or it's been damaged?"

Manufacturers admit they hear your frustration. They showed us some packages now have perforated plastic or an easier-access cardboard backing.

The boom in plastic packaging has now spawned a whole new industry -- designing tools to open them! Does this one work? Who knows? It's completely sealed behind a layer of plastic.

(Copyright (c) 2008 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)