Ozone generators are air cleaners, not air filters. An air filter draws air through a filter of some kind. The filter material allows the air to past through but catches the air borne pollutants in the filter material. Ozone air cleaners remove nothing from the environment. Bacteria are neutralized and all airborne pollutants are electrically charged so that they are attracted to the floors and walls of the room. The pollutants will continue to build up on the floors and walls till they are removed by some other means. To understand Ozone generators you must first understand what Ozone is and what its effects are. Ozone is a very special kind of oxygen molecule. A molecule is a group of atoms that are electrically connected to each other. Normally oxygen exists as O2. This symbol stands for 2 atoms of oxygen bound (electrically connected) together to form a molecule. This combination of oxygen atoms is stable. In other words O2 tends to stay O2 and not change into something else. When we say we are breathing oxygen we are breathing O2.

The air we breathe contains O2 along with many other gases. Ozone is composed of three atoms of oxygen (written as O3) bound together. Ozone is not stable. It is very reactive with other elements (O3 very much wants to become O2). illinois air duct cleaning buffalo groveOzone is described (Encyclopedia Britannica) as an irritating, pale blue gas that is explosive and toxic, even at low concentrations. homedics air purifier reviewIt is used as a bleaching agent for organic compounds; air purifier price manilaas a strong germicide to sterilize drinking water as well as to remove objectionable odors and flavors. As stated above ozone is toxic. In controlled exposure studies (Encyclopedia Britannica ) it reduced the ventilory capability of healthy people in concentrations as low as 0.12 parts per million.

Ozone is also toxic to plants at levels of 0.01 to 0.05 parts per million with an exposure time of several hours. Ozone can also cause breathing disorders such as bronchitis. Parts per million is a way of measuring the concentration of a gas. An ozone concentration of 0.01 parts per million means that for every 100 million particles there will be 1 ozone molecule. This is not very much ozone and it is still harmful to plants. Ozone does exist in the atmosphere. Everyone has heard discussions of the problems with the ozone layer. The ozone layer in the atmosphere exists at a very large distance from the earth. We do not breathe this ozone. The atmospheric ozone shields us from some of the Sun's radiation. Ozone is also generated when an electrical spark passes an atmosphere containing oxygen. This happens when lightning strikes the earth or an electric motor runs (Yes your laser printer generates some ozone). The key thing to remember is the concentrations that you breathe from lightning and electric motors are very low and of a short duration.

There is some discussion about the danger of the ozone generated by laser printers but that is another topic. Ozone generators use an electrical mechanism to generate Ozone gas. Ozone generators will clean the air. Bacteria in the air are neutralized. Ozone reacts with most airborne particles and the particles are attracted to floor and walls. The particles are not in the air for you to breathe but they do build up on your floors and walls. People that claim that Ozone generators will reduce air borne pollutants are correct. The problem of removing the residue that builds up on the floors and walls is ignored. The problem is the Ozone cleaners are dangerous. Ozone is dangerous to humans and plants even at very low concentrations. The study in Encyclopedia Britannica found that levels as low as 0.12 parts per million have a negative effect on human respiratory systems. None of the ozone cleaner manufactures I found quoted the ozone they generate in parts per million so there is no way to compare their output to "safe" levels.

Recent media articles have indicated that at least some Ozone generators do generate dangerous ozone levels. You will read testimonials from Ozone cleaner users who say that the units have changed their lives, asthma suffers can breathe again etc. Initially the Ozone cleaners would remove all of the air born pollutants making it easier for asthma suffers to breathe. However, the continued exposure to ozone could affect them in a very negative way unless the ozone levels are controlled very carefully. None of the ozone cleaners I have encountered have controls calibrated in parts per million . How do you set a safe level? Remember that very low levels of Ozone have been shown to be harmful. There is no standard for the level of ozone that is safe for parrots. We do know that the avian respiratory system is much more sensitive than the human system. The corollary is that the "safe" ozone level would be much lower than the safe ozone level required for humans. How low is safe enough?

This is a question that does not have an answer. The only safe thing to do is not use Ozone air cleaners.. Standard HEPA air filters are a much better choice. They do not neutralize bacteria. They only remove them from the environment. You must change/clean the filters regularly. However, they do not generate poisonous gases. Winged Wisdom Note: Bruce Voorhees has owned pets most his life and currently is the proud owner of an Eleanora Cockatoo. Although educated as an electronic engineer, he has become a software engineer, developing robot control software. This is Bruce's second published article."I bought an ozone generator from another company, and I don't like the smell." Then you have way too much ozone in your environment. If you can smell ozone, then it's probably too much ozone. What were the ozone generators purchased for? We offer ozone generators ONLY for places where ozone is actually needed, that is, where there are strong odors or other gaseous pollution (stuff you can't see under a microscope).

* We do not offer ozone generators for getting rid of particulates (stuff you can see under a microscope, such as dust, pollen, mold spores, bacteria, pet dander, and other allergens). Ozone is very much misunderstood. Here are some examples and reasons why. Another person mentioned an EPA site that suggests that ozone is not indicated for airWe think that page might have been the result of a large company (not us or the distributor of any product we sell) promoting ozone generators as air purifiers for every purpose in every situation (and they often falsely call their ozone generatorsSee the right column in our Ozone FAQ to see the difference. Also, you'd be surprised at the number of people we hear (not using anything we sell) that complain of an ozone smell, yet don't turn the ozone down (or off) on their machine. Here's an e-mail from another concerned person: "Please explain the following information found on the internet:

"When you inhale ozone, it travels throughout your respiratory tract. Because ozone is very corrosive, it damages the bronchioles and alveoli in your lungs, air sacs that are important for gas exchange (see How Your Lungs Work for details). Repeated exposure to ozone can inflame lung tissues and cause respiratory infections. "Ozone exposure can aggravate existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, reduce your lung function and capacity for exercise and cause chest pains and coughing. Young children and the elderly are most susceptible to the high levels of ozone encountered during the summer. "In addition to effects on humans, the corrosive nature of ozone can damage plants and trees. High levels of ozone can destroy agricultural crops and forest vegetation. "Ozone is 'bad' when it is at ground level. Ozone is a very reactive gas that is hard on lung tissue. It also damages plants and buildings. ozone at ground level is a problem.

Unfortunately, chemicals in car exhaust and chemicals produced by some industries react with light to produce lots of ozone at ground level. In cities, the ozone level can rise to a point where it becomes hazardous to our health. That's when you hear about an ozone warning on the news." This is correct, when too much ozone is present. Perhaps you have also read thisIt's been some time since we've read that EPABut it appears to us that that article needs some clarifications, to say the least. consider this excerpt from it: "In one study (Shaughnessy and Oatman, 1991), a large ozone generator recommended by the manufacturer for spaces "up to 3,000 square feet," was placed in a 350 square foot room and run at aThe ozone in the room quickly reached concentrations that were exceptionally high--0.50 to 0.80 ppm which is 5-10 times higher than public health limits...." Why was this large ozone generator, rated at 3000 square feet, turned up so high in so small a

Of course the ozone level in the room was way too high. Was there a reason to use ozone there (odors) other than the test? But they do note the following on that same web page: "When [the ozone generators] were not run on high, and interior doors were open, concentrations [of ozone] generally did not exceed public health standards (US EPA, 1995)." And so we do not share the belief that ozone is always bad, either. It is the only solution in certain situations to strong odors, such as buildings where there has been a fire. If the ozone is adjusted properly, neither ozone nor the undesirable odors will be present. The author used to work in a factory where a chemical and wood structure fire occurred, and the results of the ozone generators brought in by the management were absolutely spectacular. The smoke smell was no longer present, so long as the ozone was on! You could only smell ozone near the ozone generators, and not in the areas where the employees were working several feet away, once the ozone output was adjusted

to the proper level. You could not have worked in that building without those ozone generators running, the fire smell was so intense without them. That is why we offer some air purifiers that produce adjustable levels of ozone, for certain carefully selected situations. We think a misunderstanding about ozone is also due to the fact that people equate even tiny amounts of ozone (which is a short-lived, unstable gas that reacts with many pollutants and odors to produce harmless water vapor and carbon dioxide) with chlorine, propane, or dioxin (which are bad in anyProperly adjusted and applied (that is, to environments where there are certain pollutants or odors present), the ozone is destroyed, unlike other gases, and there will be little (if any) ozone present even with the ozone generator running. However, it should be noted that ozone does not react favorably with some chemical vapors, such as denatured alcohol, and the result is harmful