Federal Regulators Ban Chinese-Made Air Bag Inflators Blamed for 10 Deaths

Federal auto safety regulators have issued a nationwide ban on certain air bag inflators and related components linked to 10 deaths in otherwise survivable crashes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on April 29 that the ban applies to inflators bearing the identifier “DTN60DB,” which the agency has traced to a Chinese supplier, Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology, also known as DTN.

“Banning these illegal Chinese airbag parts responsible for 10 deaths, is necessary to ensure the safety of Americans on our roads,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.

He said that the agency would work with law enforcement to hold accountable anyone caught importing or selling them.

In its final decision, NHTSA said the “substandard” DTN inflators were responsible for 10 deaths and two serious injuries in 12 crashes over the past three years.

Air bag inflators are small gas generators that use chemical reactions to rapidly fill an air bag during a crash. According to NHTSA, the DTN inflators at issue ruptured during deployments, showering vehicle occupants with metal shrapnel.

All 12 confirmed ruptures involved inflators marked “DTN60DB,” according to the agency. The ban applies to those inflators and related components.

Although all known ruptures occurred in Chevrolet Malibu and Hyundai Sonata vehicles, NHTSA said it could not confirm that the risk is limited to those makes and models. Regulators said that because the inflators were “likely illegally” imported by “unknown importers,” they do not yet know how many entered the United States or how many vehicles still have them.

As the investigation continues, NHTSA urges drivers to look closely at their vehicles’ repair histories. The agency said any vehicle involved in a crash since 2020 in which an air bag deployed that was not repaired by a manufacturer-authorized dealer should be inspected by a reputable mechanic.

“If a vehicle is found to have one of these inflators, it should not be driven until the inflator is replaced with genuine parts,” it warned.

NHTSA proposed the ban on April 2, along with its initial findings. According to the agency, DTN responded by saying it believes the inflator in question was not manufactured by DTN but was instead a counterfeit of its product “manufactured by another company.” The company also said it “has never directly sold any inflatable devices to the U.S. market.”

NHTSA rejected those arguments, saying the ban is justified even if the inflators are counterfeit because that would not change its finding that inflators marked DTN60DB are defective.

“DTN did not provide any evidence to support its allegations that these devices may be counterfeit,” the regulators said. “And in any event, it does not matter.”

A representative for DTN did not respond to a request for comment. The company’s website states that DTN does not sell products in the United States.

“We don’t do business with Americans, and the sale of any of our products to the United States is strictly prohibited,” a statement on the company’s home page reads in Chinese. “Gas generators can be dangerous; therefore, you must subject them to rigorous experimentation and testing prior to installation and use.”