Air Purifiers, the Ozone and Associated Dangers Articles | Environment

By: Darren Williger

A lot of stories are currently circulating about the adverse effects that air purifiers may be causing in people’s homes. It may be causing a form of indoor smog which is a lot more dangerous than the air that you get inside some of the dirtiest cities in America.

Studies that were carried out by the National Science Foundation have shown findings which have sent people in the air purifying manufacturing industry back to their research. According to the information that was available from the study, ozonolysis tended to create as much ozone in the area which was worse than the smog that could be found in smog-filled areas of Los Angeles, California.

Ionic air purifiers tend to operate by charging airborne particles in the air and then attracting them to metal electrodes. Although the system is being propounded by its advocates as an efficient means of cleaning the air and getting rid of pollutants and allergens, it has been found out that they emit minute amounts of ozone as a result of the ionization process. Although standard ionic air purifiers tend not to emit enough ozone to cause concerns in a home that has been well ventilated, models which use the ozonolysis process tend to remove pollutants from the air tend to emit more ozone which can accumulate in poorly ventilated rooms to an excess of at least 350 billion parts per billion. When these are measured outside these levels tend to trigger a Stage 2 smog alert in most U.S cities, a situation which hasn’t occurred in Southern California since the 1980’s.

Barbara Riordan who was acting chairperson of the California Air Resource Board (ARB), in 2006 warned that ozonolysis machines were dangerous and emitted the same chemical that the EPA in the U.S had been trying to remove from the air for decades.

What was much more devastating according to Riordan was the fact that a lot of people who were already suffering from the effects of respiratory problems such as asthma and emphysema are rushing to buy these dangerous devices in their homes because they can help their conditions.

The EPA has taken a stand by stating in its literature that the ozone has been found to have very little effects in the removal of indoor air pollutants. This makes the use of these devices quite unnecessary as science hasn’t found a basis or proof for the claims of these manufacturers regarding their own products.

Until a lot more research has been completed, experts have agreed that the safest means of purifying your air is to use an alternative air filtration system in order to get your home rid of any indoor pollutants and allergens which may be responsible for your discomfort. This may be to the chagrin of manufacturers of these devices but the truth is that consumers had better do the best to protect themselves as no one else will secure their own interests on such issues better. Prevention of a problem is much better that looking for a cure after the problem has occurred.