Each area of life has it’s own controversy. Even when you’re looking for an air purifier for your home, it seems you can’t escape it. One of the most recent developments in air purifiers in the past few years is the “ionic” type, and the questions seem to swirl around it like smoky air.
An electric charge to air molecules is the mechanism used by this air ionizer to help clear the air. In other words, ionizing them. The dirt in the air are attracted to the air molecules, in the same mechanism as dust are attracted to a tv screen or monitor. This pulls the particles out of the air and toward the electrodes in the purifier.
That’s a pretty good thing, right? And that’s what you want, isn’t it? Making the air clean by getting rid of all the dust and dirt.
But also, controversies begin here. Ozone is being created when extra ions are mixed up with oxygen molecules. Since air contains a large portion of oxygen, formation of ozone is possible. Ozone could be extremely toxic!
It’s true that ozone can kill bacteria in the air. But it would have to be at a high enough concentration that it would do considerable harm to humans as well. It could cause lung problems and worse, it could cause harm and damage to our brain cells.
If ozone is present in the air in a higher concentration than 80 parts per billion (that is, 80 particles in every billion air particles), you can start sneezing, coughing, and wheezing after 8 hours. A small increase in ozone levels could already aggravate asthma attacks and could even increase death risks.
Consumer Reports did tests on several different ionizing air purifiers just after the turn of the century, and found that the majority of them failed to meet the upper safety limit of 80 parts per billion, when it came to ozone levels. One big problem of the testers was there were no actual standards for ozone levels imposed by the government. The Environmental Protection Agency only regulates outdoor air, and since these purifiers are not medical devices, the Food and Drug Administration didn’t regulate them indoors either, at least at the time the tests were done.
One more complain regarding ionizers is that not only it could produce ozone, but it could also produce a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen which is commonly known as ‘laughing gas’.
I know right now you’re having second thoughts of whether to buy an ionizer type or not. But even though Consumer Reports found negative results for almost all the available products, they did find that a couple worked very well. It might be possible to do some in-depth research and find an ionizing air purifier that you can feel certain about. This kind of purifier is still being improved.
You could opt for the simpler ones too, while waiting for those improvements.
Click here if you want to learn more about the Ionic Pro Turbo Air Purifier