Your hoverboard is officially unsafe - CNET

But just as quickly, hoverboards transitioned from must-have toy to health hazard after reports of the boards catching fire or exploding started rolling in last December. In the past three months alone, the CPSC has received reports of 52 hoverboard fires resulting in over $2 million in property damage.

The agency said many of these incidents could have been prevented if the self-balancing boards met the newly outlined standards.

"Consumers risk serious injury or death if their self-balancing scooters ignite and bu," wrote Robert Howell, acting director of the CPSC's Office of Compliance and Field Operations, in the letter.

The CPSC letter said all boards should be certified safe by Underwriters Laboratories, a widely used independent testing firm, and meet United Nations requirements for lithium-ion battery products.

UL began accepting hoverboards for testing in February, but has not certified any boards yet.

"Not one [hoverboard] has a certification by UL," said John Drengenberg, the consumer safety director at UL. "Manufacturers would be wise to look at it and make sure their product meets the requirements."

UL could not provide an estimate for when a certified hoverboard might hit the market, Drengenberg said, adding that product testing generally takes a few weeks.