Why are US auto safety regulators opening a new investigation into Takata air bag inflators installed in millions of vehicles built over the past 20 years?
Some of those vehicles have the original inflators installed when they were manufactured and some have inflators installed as replacements in vehicles previously recalled. In certain situations, mainly long exposure to extreme heat and humidity, the inflators can unexpectedly rupture, sending metal shrapnel through the vehicle cabin with the potential to cause injuries and deaths.
Takata inflators made since the late 1990s use a powerful chemical, ammonium nitrate, as a propellant. When that chemical is exposed over long periods to moisture and heat, it tends to break down and become volatile and potentially explosive.Takata learned of the first inflator rupture in 2003. Some of the company’s managers learned of additional inflator ruptures after that. Some test report data was altered by Takata employees to hide this from Takata’s automaker customers.
There have been at least 28 deaths worldwide, including 19 in the US, and more than 400 injuries tied to faulty Takata inflators.To help mitigate issues with ammonium nitrate, Takata in 2015 agreed to start building original-equipment and replacement inflators with a drying agent, called a desiccant, to absorb excess moisture.
This month the agency said it “wants to evaluate the future risk” of inflators made with desiccant and installed in vehicles that have not been recalled.
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