I got an ozone producing air purifier to fight cigarette smoke. After a bit more research (see below), I’m taking it back. I’m going to go with plants instead. They work and produce real oxygen. I picked up my first Dracaena tonight.Is breathing ozone air from air purifiers good or bad for your health? Well, that depends on who you’re listening to. If you listen to the ozone air purifier salesman, he’ll claim that breathing ozone air from air purifiers is “good” and safe. However, if you listen to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Consumer Reports, the answer is definitely “bad!” As far as the experts are concerned, breathing ozone air from air purifiers is harmful to human health. Ozone is an irritant and breathing it in can worsen asthma and cause coughing, wheezing and chest pains. It also deadens your sense of smell, raises your sensitivity to pollen and mold and may even be responsible for permanent lung damage. In fact, Consumer Reports, the EPA, Canada and some U.S. states have issued warnings against ozone from air purifiers.

For example, California warns, “People should avoid using indoor air cleaning devices that produce ozone.” Ozone is a highly effective killer that oxidizes whatever it comes into contact with. Sure, ozone kills bacteria and mold, but it’s also the same molecule responsible for the free radicals that can cause heart disease, cancer and premature aging. Now, I’m not saying that breathing ozone air from air purifiers will kill you, but ozone is definitely not something you want to voluntarily breathe into your lungs. There’s just too much evidence against it. However, ozone generator marketers say their machines are approved by the government. That’s simply not true. Air purifiers fall into a bureaucratic crack where there are no regulations. According to the EPA, a registration number on the packaging “does NOT imply EPA endorsement or suggest in any way that the EPA has found the product to be either safe or effective.” Another sales pitch is that you can keep an ozone air purifier on low and only turn it up until you smell a “fresh laundry odor.”

But as you breathe it in, you quickly become desensitized to the ozone smell. And keeping the setting on low, doesn’t eliminate the problem, it only makes the air from an ozone air purifier a little less dangerous.air purifier nscessity How do these marketers get away with making such outrageous claims? whynter 5 stages hepa personal air purifier silverSince ozone generators have no regulation, salespeople can say anything and everything they want, in order to sell their product. honeywell air purifier ha170eThere’s no one to stop them. As you can see, you should be concerned about breathing ozone air from air purifiers. There are other safer more effective choices available. When you consider all the options, a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) purifier with an additional activated charcoal filter is your best option.

The HEPA system combined with a charcoal filter works like a sponge soaking up offensive cooking, tobacco and pet odors, as well as being 99.9% effective at eliminating airborne allergens down to 0.3 microns in size. There are over 600 microns in the period at the end of this sentence. A HEPA system with a charcoal filter provides the best benefits, with no risk of breathing ozone air from air purifiers. First, a review of scientific research shows that, for many of the chemicals commonly found in indoor environments, the reaction process with ozone may take months or years (Boeniger, 1995). For all practical purposes, ozone does not react at all with such chemicals. And contrary to specific claims by some vendors, ozone generators are not effective in removing carbon monoxide (Salls, 1927; Shaughnessy et al., 1994) or formaldehyde (Esswein and Boeniger, 1994). Second, for many of the chemicals with which ozone does readily react, the reaction can form a variety of harmful or irritating by-products (Weschler et al., 1992a, 1992b, 1996;

Zhang and Lioy, 1994). For example, in a laboratory experiment that mixed ozone with chemicals from new carpet, ozone reduced many of these chemicals, including those which can produce new carpet odor. However, in the process, the reaction produced a variety of aldehydes, and the total concentration of organic chemicals in the air increased rather than decreased after the introduction of ozone (Weschler, et. al., 1992b). In addition to aldehydes, ozone may also increase indoor concentrations of formic acid (Zhang and Lioy, 1994), both of which can irritate the lungs if produced in sufficient amounts. Some of the potential by-products produced by ozone’s reactions with other chemicals are themselves very reactive and capable of producing irritating and corrosive by-products (Weschler and Shields, 1996, 1997a, 1997b). Believe it or not, not all air cleaning devices are appropriate for home use – some air purifiers emit ozone that can be harmful to your health. Air purifiers are ineffective if they are producing ozone in your home as they work to purify air.

Ozone is a molecule composed of three atoms of oxygen. Two atoms of oxygen form the basic oxygen molecule that is essential to the air we breathe. The third oxygen molecule can re-attach to molecules of other substances and alter their chemical composition. Ozone is an important ingredient of smog and is a highly reactive and unstable gas. When inhaled, ozone can damage the linings of the respiratory tract. Symptoms include chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and throat irritation. Ozone is especially harmful for those with chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections. Which air purifiers should I avoid? It is important to avoid ozone generators and ionizing air purifiers. These air purifiers send out a stream of negative ions that attract pollutants and become too heavy to remain airborne. The contaminants are removed from the air but do not leave the room and are not captured on the air purifiers collection plates or filters.

They fall to the floor, land on walls, and are easily put back in the air. Ozone generators and ionizing air purifiers would be very effective if they did not pose a health threat. The biggest factor about these air purifiers is the ozone that they emit. The EPA has warned consumers against using ozone generators, and states in recent experiments ionizers were found to be less effective in removing particles of dust, tobacco smoke, pollen, or fungal spores than high efficiency particle filters (HEPA). What other methods can be used to control indoor air pollution? The concentration of ozone would have to greatly exceed health standards to be effective in removing most indoor air contaminants. In the process of reacting to chemicals indoors, ozone can produce other chemicals that themselves can be irritating and corrosive. Although some reviews say that the ozone produced by electrostatic air cleaners is safe for those in normal good health, both the EPA and American Lung Association advise against using these devices, because there are many ozone-free high-efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) models on the market.