A year-long study has determined that ammonium nitrate propellant, along with two other factors, is to blame for Takata’s massive airbag recall.
The Independent Testing Coalition, which is comprised of representatives from Toyota, Honda, Fiat Chrysler, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Subaru, announced this week that ammonium nitrate propellant is the main culprit of Takata’s faulty airbags. The 10-member group, all of whom are Takata customers, also blamed defective inflator assemblies that exposed the ammonium nitrate to moisture and temperature swings, causing the chemical to combust violently.
Takata announced in a prepared statement that its finding support those of the ITC.
“We fully cooperated with ITC to support their analysis, and we will continue to work closely with them, NHTSA and our customers to take aggressive actions that advance vehicle safety,” a Takata spokesman said in a statement, according to Automotive News.
Although the ITC didn’t look into the matter, investigators are researching if ammonium nitrate is safe to use as an airbag propellant at all, independent of the moisture and temperature issues. The NHTSA has given Takata until 2019 to prove that the chemical is safe for use in airbags; if the company can’t comply, Takata could be forced to recall every airbag it has ever produced with ammonium nitrate.
If that happens, it would cause another round of headaches for vehicle owners. Takata’s replacement airbags use ammonium nitrates, so a second round of recalls to replace the replacement airbags would be required.
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