2009: Harvard lab coffee maker was poisoned with sodium azide -> accidental ingestion by lab workers
Exposure
Automobile Airbags
Used as substrate for the propellant in airbags: via a chemical reaction with high temperature, reaction of sodium azide forms nitrogen gas + sodium salts + particulate matter -> nitrogen gas inflates the air bag
Parachutes
Preservative: prevents bacterial growth
Physiology
Characteristics of Sodium Azide: white colorless, odorless crystalline powder
Sodium Azide Inhalation
Inhibition of respiratory enzyme cytochrome oxidase
Sodium Azide Ingestion
Inhibition of respiratory enzyme cytochrome oxidase
Epidemiology: associated with airbag deployment -> inhalation
Sodium Azide Ingestion
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References
Acute pulmonary response of asthmatics to aerosols and gases generated by airbag deployment. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 1994; 150: 408-14
Mechanism of induction of asthmatic attacks initiated by the inhalation of particles generated by airbag system deployment. Journal of Trauma, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 521–527, 1995
Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome due to sodium azide inhalation,” International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, vol. 68, no. 6, pp. 469–471, 1996
Human health effects of sodium azide exposure: a literature review and analysis. International Journal of Toxicology, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 175–186, 2003
Airbag asthma: a case report and review of the literature. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, vol. 96, no. 2, pp. 369–372, 2006
Airbag pneumonitis: a report and discussion of a new clinical entity. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medical Care, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 470–473, 2007
Case Report-Airbag Pneumonitis. Case Reports in Medicine. Volume 2010 (2010), Article ID 498569, 2 pages. doi:10.1155/2010/498569
