--- title: How an Ingredient in Airbags Might Turn Explosive description: Ammonium nitrate, commonly used as a fertilizer, used in airbags due to low cost canonical: https://time.com/3631574/airbag-ingredient-explosive/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-12T16:03:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:17.439Z article:section: Health og:title: How an Ingredient in Airbags Might Turn Explosive og:description: Ammonium nitrate, commonly used as a fertilizer, used in airbags due to low cost og:url: https://time.com/3631574/airbag-ingredient-explosive/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf771d876f4382ff7/69876e70a988cab10d6ab5b4/airbag-crash-test.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5019 og:image:height: 2823 og:image:alt: airbag-crash-test og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How an Ingredient in Airbags Might Turn Explosive twitter:description: Ammonium nitrate, commonly used as a fertilizer, used in airbags due to low cost twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf771d876f4382ff7/69876e70a988cab10d6ab5b4/airbag-crash-test.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How an Ingredient in Airbags Might Turn Explosive > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=33dfdd1a-eadf-4db5-93a8-8f740fdcfcfd&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: #TheBrief: The Air Bag Recall That’s Affecting Millions of Cars [Watch (HLS stream): #TheBrief: The Air Bag Recall That’s Affecting Millions of Cars](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNcwxYkc.m3u8) (1:38)  _Published 2014-11-20. Exploding air bags have led to one of the biggest auto recalls in history, one that’s five times larger than GM’s ignition-switch fiasco. How did this happen?_ by [World Science Festival](https://time.com/author/world-science-festival/) ## World Science Festival Dec 12, 2014 4:03 PM UTC by [World Science Festival](https://time.com/author/world-science-festival/) ## World Science Festival Dec 12, 2014 4:03 PM UTC  An airbag can save your life, but if improperly manufactured, it could mean your death. At least five people have died after airbags made by Japanese company Takata exploded during deployment in crashes, bombarding passengers with sharp metal fragments. Now [more than 14 million cars](http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/12/airbag%5Frecall%5F2014%5Flist%5Fof%5Fveh.html) using the airbags are up for recall worldwide. The recall highlights a delicate balance of electrical, mechanical, and chemical processes inside an airbag—all of which are vulnerable to contamination and failure. First, some background on how airbags work: Before an airbag deploys, the control unit has to detect a crash through various sensors on the car. Crash sensors are rigged to detect the sudden deceleration of a crash, but not be affected by the normal stopping and starting of driving. One form of sensor is the “ball and tube” setup, where a small metal ball is held in place by a magnet. In the event of a collision, the ball detaches from the magnet, rolls down and completes an electrical circuit that triggers the inflation. Similar sensors use weights connected to a coiled-up spring that unrolls with a sudden stop. Another type of sensor can be located inside the front doors, where it monitors air pressure; a collision from the side that pushes the door inwards will change the air pressure, and trip the sensor. **WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL**: [How To Survive A Spaceship Disaster](http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2014/11/survive-spaceship-disaster/) If the sensor detects a crash, it tells the airbag’s inflator system to kick into gear. Most airbags are inflated when the inflator unit ignites a pellet of a compound called sodium azide (NAN3), kickstarting a swift chemical reaction that fills up the airbag with nitrogen gas (N2), sending it bursting out to cushion a car’s occupants. All of this happens within less than half the time it takes you to blink once. But in the 1990s, Takata started looking for alternatives to sodium azide, due to the fact that the compound could release toxic fumes when the airbags deployed. First, the company’s engineers replaced the sodium azide with a compound called tetrazole. But tetrazole, while less toxic than sodium azide, proved more expensive. Eventually, over the objections of some employees, Takata developed a propellant using the ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), more commonly used as a fertilizer. **WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL**: [Why Lethal Injections Fail](http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2014/08/lethal-injections-fail/) Ammonium nitrate “shouldn’t be used in airbags,” Missouri University of Science and Technology explosives expert Paul Worsey [told the New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/takatas-switch-to-cheaper-airbag-propellant-is-at-center-of-crisis.html?%5Fr=0), saying the compound is really better for large-scale demolitions. “But it’s cheap, unbelievably cheap.” Part of the danger with ammonium nitrate lies in the compound’s ability to transition through various solid states due to changes in temperature, pressure and moisture. The transition point between state IV, called beta-rhombic, and state III, called alpha-rhombic, occurs at 32.3 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperature cycles that a car experiences through days and nights, especially in hotter and more humid areas, may be enough to cause the compound to switch between these crystalline states, making it less stable. **WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL**: [Some Assembly Required](http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2014/07/assembly-required/) Takata senior vice president Hiroshi Shimizu [told U.S. lawmakers in early December](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/business/house-hearing-takata-airbags.html) that the true cause of the airbag ruptures is still unknown, and the company has advocated for recalls to be limited to humid regions. Meanwhile, while still not characterizing its airbag propellant as defective, Takata [has quietly modified the recipe](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/12/us-autos-takata-recall-compound-exclusiv-idUSKCN0IW21N20141112) for the propellant used in the replacement bags for recalled cars—though ammonium nitrate still remains a key component. [_This article originally appeared on World Science Festival._](http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2014/12/airbag-science/) ## Transcript Exploding airbags have led to one of the biggest auto recalls in history. How did this safety device backfire so badly? I'm Ben Goldberger, and this is your brief. The Japanese company Takata is the largest supplier of airbag parts in the world. Which is a big problem because it turns out that millions of cars have driver's side airbags with a faulty Takata part. Some of the defective airbags propel shrapnel when they rupture, and they've been linked to five deaths and 139 in juries in the last decade. [ FOREIGN ] We deeply apologize from the bottom of our heart for all the angst and worry caused. Despite their public remorse, the New York Times report suggests Takata may have known about the defect since 2004. So which cars are affected? The new recall includes BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Mazda, and Takata's biggest customer, Honda, who's not that happy right now. [ FOREIGN ] If Takata was responsible for faults, we will negotiate with Takata to pay back the recall cost for sure. Takata says the bags were only prone to fail in climates with high humidity, like Florida and Louisiana. Yet an exploding Takata airbag killed a woman in Oklahoma. And injured another in LA, and the feds don't want to take any more chances. So far only BMW has agreed to take the recall national. If the others follow suit this could be one of the largest in history. To put that into perspective, the Takata recall is five times larger than GM's ignition switch fiasco. I'm Ben Goldberger. And you've been briefed. 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