Takata to Stop Using Volatile Chemical in Airbags

Takata Corp has told U.S. safety regulators it will no longer use a volatile chemical in its airbag inflators.

The Japanese supplier is at the center of a global recall of tens of millions of cars for potentially deadly airbag inflators that could deploy with too much force and spray metal fragments inside vehicles.

Use of ammonium nitrate as a propellant in Takata airbags has been linked to dozens of ruptured inflators since 2003. The defective inflators have been linked to six deaths and hundreds of injuries.

The agreement to cease using ammonium nitrate was detailed by Takata executive Kevin Kennedy, in written testimony ahead of a hearing before a U.S. House panel on Tuesday.

Discovery of a root cause of Takata’s airbag problems “is not imminent,” according to David Kelly, head of an automakers’ coalition investigating Takata airbag inflator ruptures.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)