OZONE AIR PURIFIERS MAY CAUSE PERMANENT LUNG DAMAGE

Several manufacturers are currently selling ozone generators as air cleaners. The companies production these devices state they are safe and effective at controlling indoor air pollution; however, for almost the century health professionals further health organizations near as the American Lung organisation have challenged these claims.

Sellers of ozone-producing devices often use fanciful terms to describe ozone. It is referred to in such terms because of "activated oxygen" or "pure air", which suggest that ozone is merely a healthy kind of oxygen. However, ozone is the toxic broth that has vastly different chemical and toxicological properties compared to oxygen.

Ozone is a molecule composed of three atoms of oxygen, over opposed to its oxygen we normally breath, which has two. The O2 molecule is stable and nonreactive, whereas the O3 molecule is unstable, given to dissociate and produce an O2 molecule and one at variance ionized oxygen atom. This single atom acts as a "free radicle", that is, it reacts with other nearby substances and changes their chemical composition. It is this ability to combine with unsimilar substances which types the basis of manufacturers' claims that it binds up organic particles in the air and removes them from circulation.

Unfortunately, the same chemical properties which allow ozone to react shroud organic collateral agency the environment also give concrete its ability to conflict with similar organic material in the body, shadow potentially harmful health consequences. When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs, and bona fide is considered an undesirable substance that is a component of smog.

Inhalation of ozone at even glum amounts can cause respiratory problems also gullet cat fit. In addition, ozone worsens chronic respiratory diseases such owing to asthma besides impairs the body's natural capability to fight respiratory infections.

A especially accepted theory of aging states that its cells of the human body age both due to genetic factors (loss of cell telomeres) and oxidative damage by free radicals. People are encouraged to eat a menu outstanding in antioxidants, and many take antioxidant supplements, wholly to avoid the kind of damage caused by reactive substances such as ozone.

Most individuals recover from acute exposure to ozone, though according to a 1996 EPA study, long-term exposure may cause permanent lung repairs. The EPA regards ozone in that an air pollutant and has formulated air quality standards to enable local officials to warn the assembly when ozone levels in civic areas are excessive. When ozone (and other air pollutants) are high, asthmatics and patients with ongoing lung disease are encouraged to stay inside, and healthy people are told to refrain from strenuous outdoor motion which raises their breathing rate in the putrid air. Since individuals are advised to avoid ozone in the outdoor environment, sound is difficult to understand why anyone would buy a emblem to intentionally produce unaffected within their allow homes.

The FDA requires ozone output of indoor medical inclination to sell for less than 0.05 ppm. The Occupational preserve besides Health Administration (OSHA) requires that workers' exposure to ozone not exceed an average concentration of more than 0.10 ppm for 8 hours. The National Institute of Occupational Safety And Health (NIOSH) recommends an superior limit of 0.10 ppm which should not be exceeded even briefly. EPA's National Ambient atmosphere Quality hackneyed for ozone is a maximum eight hour average outdoor concentration of 0.08 ppm.

The EPA coined the phrase "good up high -bad nearby" to differentiate between ozone in the elder further lower atmosphere. Stratospheric ozone in the upper atmosphere about 10 to 50km (32,000 to 164,000 feet) over Earth's surface helps filter out damaging ultraviolet solar radiation. This ozone layer is being decimated by CFC compounds used supremacy refrigerators also coolant systems. After negotiation of an international treaty, the Montreal Protocol, CFC feat was sharply limited beginning in 1987 and phased foreign totally by 1996, and a subscribe to by the American Geophysical Union shows the rate of stratospheric ozone destruction slowing.

Ozone Generators are ineffective domination controlling indoor air pollution, since scientific evidence shows that at concentrations that acquire not exceed public health standards, ozone has little potential to remove indoor air contaminants, though it still has its longterm potential to cause lung irritation.

Vendors claim that ozone will disclose almost every chemical contaminant harmless through a chemical reaction whose singular by-products are carbon dioxide, oxygen and irrigate. This is false advertising through several reasons.



First, stable takes months to caducity for ozone to react with sundry of the chemicals ordinarily found in indoor air (Boeniger, 1995); so now all practical purposes, this is useless. Also, ozone generators bequeath not remove co monoxide (Salls, 1927; Shaughnessy et al., 1994) or formaldehyde (Esswein also Boeniger, 1994).

Secondly, in many cases situation the racket between the pollutants and ozone does occur readily, its by-products are in that harmful or irritating now its original pollutants (Weschler et al., 1992a, 1992b, 1996; Zhang and Lioy, 1994).

For instance, a laboratory experiment was conducted which mixed ozone with chemicals from new carpet. Ozone did reduce many of the chemicals, including those which can produce "new carpet" odor. However, the motion constructed the variety of aldehydes, and the total concentration of organic chemicals clout the air indeed increased (Weschler, et. al., 1992b). Levels of irritating formic acid also rise (Zhang and Lioy, 1994).

Some of the byproducts of ozone reaction are themselves reactive and go on to produce further irritating also corrosive by-products (Weschler and Shields, 1996, 1997a, 1997b). Ozone producing devices turn an indoor environment into a seething chemical flask.

Third, ozone by itself does not disrobe airborne particles such over pollen and housedust. However, some ozone generators are manufactured with an "ion generator" or "ionizer" in the same unit to disperse negatively (and/or positively) charged ions into its air. These ions attach to particles prerogative the air giving them a nay (or assured) charge so that the particles may attach to nearby surfaces same due to walls or furniture, creating an undesirable grimy layer; or attach to isolated another also accord out of the atmosphere. In recent experiments, ionizers original ineffective in removing dust, tobacco smoke, pollen or fungal spores associated to either high efficacy particle filters or electrostatic precipitators. (Shaughnessy et al., 1994; Pierce, et al., 1996).

Even at concentrations that greatly exceed public health standards, ozone is ineffective during cleaning the air. again unfortunately, there is evidence to suggest that in some situation ozone generating inclination surpass tolerable output boundary. Due to the varying brands and models of these machines, and the different room sizes in which they are eventually used, there can be crying variation in the eventual concentration of ozone in the air.

In a study by Shaughnessy further Oatman (1991), a big ozone generator recommended by the manufacturer owing to spaces "up to 3,000 square feet," was placed moment a 350 square foot room and run at a high setting. The ozone in the room quickly reached hazardous levels of 0.50 to 0.80 ppm, 5-10 times higher than public health limits.

In a 1995 EPA study, several different ozone generators were tested pressure a home environment, force barracks of contradistinct sizes, with doors alternately opened again closed, and shield its central ventilation system fan alternately turned upon and exterminate. The results showed that some ozone generators, when run at maximum settings prestige the sealed room, regularly produced hazardous concentrations of 0.20-0.30 ppm. When the units were run at lesser settings, with interior doors opened, concentrations generally remained within public health standards.

Due to this profound variation in output and concentration, it is impossible for consumers to know how much ozone is actually in the air they are breathing; in many ordinary circumstances, ozone generators answerability produce toxic levels. At least individual manufacturer is selling machines equipped with ozone sensors that turn the machine on and off in response to ambient ozone levels, in edict to maintain levels of this entirely unattractive gas within a"safe" range. The EPA is now conducting tests to evaluating the reliability of these sensors.Original Source:
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