Takata Corp. has announced that it is recalling 35 million to 40 million additional inflators in American vehicles.

The expanded recall will be phased in over several years and more than double what is already the largest and most complex auto safety recall in U.S. history. The new recall will cover all frontal air bag inflators without a drying agent. U.S. regulators could unveil the expanded recall within the week. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Takata are still in talk regarding the details of the recall.

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The air-bag inflators expected to be recalled employ ammonium nitrate as a propellant and lack a drying agent that aims to keep moisture from building, a factor cited in destabilizing the devices and causing explosions. Other air-bag inflators, including those containing desiccant to prevent moisture, are not expected to be recalled.

The number of affected vehicles is unknown since in some, only the driver’s side air bag is affected, while in others, occupants of both front passenger seats are at risk of death or injuries. The defect, linked to at least 11 deaths and 160 injuries worldwide, causes air bag inflators to deploy with such excessive force they send shrapnel ripping through the air bag fabric and into the heads and torsos of front occupants.

“Takata is working with regulators and our auto maker customers to develop long-term, orderly solutions to these important safety issues. We strongly urge all consumers to check NHTSA’s www.safercar.gov website and contact their dealers immediately if they discover their vehicle is subject to a recall,” a spokesman for the Japanese company said.

Currently, 14 automakers led by Honda have recalled 24 million U.S. vehicles with 28.8 million inflators because of the risk that they can explode with too much force and spray metal shards inside vehicles.

In April, NHTSA reported that were about 85 million unrecalled Takata air bag inflators in U.S. vehicles that would need to be recalled by 2019 unless the company can prove they are safe. Under an agreement signed in 2015, the Japanese company has until 2019 to reveal that all of its unrecalled air bag inflators are safe.

TagsTakata, airbag, Takata airbag, Honda, Takata recall airbag