Are there really potentially deadly chemicals inside of airbags?
Inside the airbag is a mixture of NaN3, KNO3, and SiO2. When the car undergoes a head-on collision, a series of three chemical reactions inside the gas generator produce gas (N2) to fill the airbag from (Sodium azide) NaN3, which is highly toxic (The maximum concentration of NaN3 allowed in the workplace is 0.2 mg/m3 air.), to harmless alkaline silicate (glass). (NaN3) can decompose at 300oC to produce sodium metal (Na) and nitrogen gas (N2). The purpose of the KNO3 and SiO2 is to remove the sodium metal (which is highly reactive and potentially explosive, as you recall from the Periodic Properties Experiment) by converting it to a harmless material.
The chemicals inside the airbags are essentially a small amount of quite a powerful explosive. If handled in the wrong way, they are capable of causing serious injury. In their place, they are safe enough – far, far less dangerous than the crash they save you from. But if you take them out and play with them, they could blow a finger off.
