Gas Generant Chemical Hazard Evaluation

Toxicity and flammability hazards of gas generants and exhaust products therefrom are reviewed in comparison to other chemicals commonly used in automobiles. The benefit to risk ratio of lives saved by automatic inflatable restraint systems versus accidental poisonings or burns by gas generant chemicals is so many orders of magnitude above 1 that the hazard potential of the chemicals should not be used as an argument against the introduction of automatic inflatable restraint systems.