EBay is banning the sale of air bags and air-bag parts on its website, beginning next month, following multiple reports of fatalities involving components believed to be counterfeit and installed in used cars.

The e-commerce platform said that air-bag inflaters-which ignite and rapidly fill an air bag during a crash-will no longer be permitted to be sold on eBay by any seller, nor will air bags themselves.

"This decision was made following a comprehensive review of the risks these products may pose to eBay users," the company said in a statement announcing the move. The policy goes into effect Sept. 24. The statement didn't mention counterfeit parts. An eBay spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the statement.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that faulty air bag inflators have blown apart and killed at least 10 drivers in recent years. Three others have been injured, including as recently as June.

The decision by eBay marks the latest development in a complex, and deadly, situation that regulators have been trying to address for years.

Air bags have saved tens of thousands of lives, but can pose dangers to drivers under certain circumstances. The Journal's investigation found that improperly assembled replacement parts, installed into used cars after their original air bags deployed in a crash, have proven particularly unsafe.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in April banned the sale and import of inflaters marked with a part number from an obscure Chinese company identified in the crashes. Those components in some cases were sold online through platforms like eBay, before getting equipped into air bags in used cars, the Journal reported. The Chinese company, DTN Airbag, has said it doesn't do business with customers in the U.S. and that it believes the company's parts have been counterfeited.

Air bags are critical safety devices designed to work in a precisely choreographed manner as part of the vehicle's entire safety system.

"We applaud eBay for joining Amazon, Facebook Marketplace and Alibaba.com in recognizing these risks and taking action to stop the sale of air bags and air bag inflators on its platform," NHTSA said.

Online marketplaces have proven to be an easy, cheap source of replacement parts, the Journal has reported. Yet many repair shops end up with substandard counterfeit parts that risk exploding during a crash or not deploying at all, according to court documents and regulators.

EBay has said it works diligently to prevent and remove unsafe product listings, prohibits counterfeit products and is cooperating with the NHTSA in its investigation.

In one case, Destiny Byassee, a 22-year-old Florida mother of two, died after the air bag in her Chevrolet Malibu exploded during a crash. The vehicle had previously been involved in another collision in which the air bags deployed, and the replacement contained an inflater marked with a part number from DTN Airbag, according to a NHTSA filing and court records.

A lawsuit involving the fatal incident went to trial in June, and a jury awarded $603 million to Byassee's family.