Last night was intense as I learned early in the evening that my 17 year old daughter had been in a bad car accident (driving, by herself) during rush hour on a busy freeway, resutling in her being transported by ambulance to the emergency room. 

Since she is so short, she has to sit very close to the steering wheel for her legs to reach the pedals.  Upon the impact of her vechicle, the airbag was released, crushing her.  She also had a reaction to the chemicals in the airbag, causing her to not be able to breathe.  Her seatbelt also crushed her abdomen, severely bruising it.  Her right leg was crushed under the steering column.  The good news is that she miraculoulsy did not incur any fractures or breaks.  The bad news is that she is down for about a week with severely sprained leg and wrist and some pretty significant internal bruising all over her body, and particulrly around her abdomen where the seatbelt strangled that part of her body upon impact, also leaving a huge mark across her tummy.

My daughter told me about "dust" coming out of the airbag, causing her to not be able to breathe.  (Fortunately a passing motorist got out and helped her out of the car and carried her to where the ambulance personnel could treat her when they arrived.)  She had to be given oxygen as a result.    She ingested the dust, which is alarming to me now, given this information:

Air bags are small canister of sodium azide that releases nitrogen gas and sodium hydroxide dust. This product is both flammable and toxic. Nitrogen, which comprises 78 percent of the air we breathe, is the gas that inflates air bags. The solid chemical, sodium azide, generates the nitrogen gas by combustion. Sodium azide is in the same class of chemicals as insecticides and is toxic if ingested, but car occupants won't come into contact with the chemical. This chemical reaction causes the air bag to inflate with over 1000 pounds of pressure. During this inflation, the canister heats up to about 300 degrees of temperature. To aid in a smooth release, the air bag is coated with either talc or cornstarch. Once the sensors are tripped, the air bag is triggered in about .05 of a second. The air bag then takes only another .1 of a second more to fully inflate. The next half-second is spent deflating the air bag. The bag is  slightly larger around than your steering wheel, and will extend back about nine inches to a foot. If your hands are on the steering wheel when it deploys they will probably be knocked off. Consider what may be between you and your air bag, like a cup of hot coffee, your hands, or your glasses. This will be smashed into your body and/or your face.

Here is some other information on sodium azide that I found:
I  am grateful that my daughter did not incur more serious injuries.  She told me she thought she was going to die.  I've always had reservations about air bags and now I am going to conduct more research to become more educated on them - more than I already am.  I never thought about the chemicals in them - only the crushing nature of them.