Air bag progress report 4:
If you drive a late model car, the chances are it has more than a pound (500 grams) of sodium azide in it. Sodium azide is one of the most dangerous substances known to man. It is at one and the same time a deadly poison and a powerful explosive. It is near the top of everyone's hazmat list. 500 grams of azide is enough to kill you and your entire family.
Automobile manufacturers put this stuff in your car in response to federal regulations, specifically 49 CFR 571.208, otherwise known as FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) 208. The bureaucrats at NHTSA will argue that FMVSS does not specifically require automobile manufacturers to put sodium azide in your car. They will point out that it merely requires "passive restraints". As they well know, "passive restraints" means air bags, and sodium azide is the explosive used in air bags.
Sodium azide is so toxic that, according to OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) 10mg/kg of body weight is enough to kill you.(1) Thats one millionths of the weight of your body. In other words, if you weigh 150 pounds, that's 0.0024 ounces.
Here is what some other authorities have to say about sodium azide:
Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. Material Safety Data Sheet (2): POISON! DANGER! MAY BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED OR ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. HARMFUL IF INHALED. HAZARDOUS SOLID. CONTACT WITH OTHER MATERIALS MAY CAUSE FIRE AND EXPLOSION. (Caps and boldface in original).
Metafilter community weblog (3): A late model SUV will have enough (sodium azide) in it's air bags to kill several hundred people. It explodes. It kills on contact with the skin. It kills via air, food or water. It is odorless and colorless. There is no antidote.
Fisher Scientific MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet)(4): Danger! Dangerous for the environment. Heat sensitive..... May be fatal if absorbed through skin, inhaled or swallowed. Heating may cause explosion. Reacts with many heavy metals (such as copper, lead, brass or solder) to form explosive compounds. Forms hydrazoic acid in water....Hydrazoic acid is a colorless, volatile, highly toxic and highly explosive liquid which volatilizes readily at 99 degrees F.
Earth Times, University of Arizona (5): Automobile air bags use a chemical compound so toxic that even a small amount can kill. It is as powerful a poison as sodium cyanide.
AFT (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) (6): Notice of List of Explosive Materials: Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 841 (d) and 27 CFR 555.23, I hereby designate the following as explosive material covered under 18 USC 841(c) ...Azide.....(inter alia).
Temple University (7): Shock chemicals become increasingly shock sensitive with age. The term "shock sensitive" refers to the susceptibility of the chemical to rapidly decompose or explode when struck, vibrated or otherwise agitated....The chemicals listed below....have potential for producing a violent explosion when subjected to shock or friction:.....Azides.... (inter alia). (Editor's comment: Think about that next time you hit a nasty bump in your car.)
Chemblog (8): Explosion hazard. Sodium azide is explosive and should be handled gently.
Straightdope.com (9): The compound (sodium azide) can kill when inhaled....or absorbed through skin contact. There is no known treatment.... It's on the Environmental Protection Agency's P-List, a designation for commercial products that qualify as acutely hazardous waste.
FDA (10) The danger of explosion occurs when this highly toxic chemical accumulates and is subsequently exposed to friction, heat, or shock. Avoid exposure of.....sodium azide to shock. Handling: Always use proper personal protective equipment, such as gloves and eye protection.
Center for Disease Control, Emergency Preparedness and Response(11): Sodium azide is a rapidly acting, potentially deadly chemical.
Wikipedia (12) EU (European Union) classification: T+ (highly toxic); N (dangerous for the environment). Flash point: 300 degrees C (i.e., explodes when heated to 300 degrees C. It starts to decompose at 275 degrees C, giving off highly toxic gases). ...Explosion hazard....Highly toxic.
Propellants and Explosives (13) Sodium azide is sensitive to shock.
(1) http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_267505.html
(2) http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/s2906.htm
(3) http://www.metafilter.com/56633/Sodium-Azide
(4) http://130.15.90.245/Chin-Sang%20Lag%20MSDS/Fisher/Sodium%20Azide(MSDS).htm
(5) http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0800/et0800s9.html
(6) http://cryptome.org/0001/atf010810.htm
(7) http://sfsworld.temple.edu/ovpr/ahrs/docs/CHGXVI.pdf
(8) http://chemblog.wik.is/Sodium_Azide
(9) http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2681/is-there-poison-in-air-bags
(10) http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/TipsandArticlesonDeviceSafety
(11) http://bt.cdc.gov/agent/sodiumazide/basics/facts.asp
(12) http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Sodium_azide
(13) "Propellants and Explosives: Thermochemical Aspects of Combustion" by N. Kubota. Wiley- VCH Verlag, 2007 (book).