Ammonium Nitrate and Inflators

Takata inflators: In all, as many as 120 million Takata inflators in U.S. vehicles contain the same volatile chemical — ammonium nitrate — used in inflators that automakers have recalled, according to company documents seen by reporters and verified by two former Takata managers, according to The Japan Times. The total number has not been previously reported. That would nearly quadruple the 29 million inflators recalled so far and linked to nine deaths in the United States. The Tokyo-based supplier, one of the world largest air bag manufacturers, has said some inflators can rupture and explode with excessive force, spraying metal shards at vehicle occupants. Before recent recalls of 5.4 million inflators, federal regulators said about 24 million defective Takata inflators were used in about 19 million vehicles that have been recalled since 2004. The number of vehicles affected remains unclear because many have more than one inflator, and not always from the same manufacturer. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.