Update: some air purifiers create -- cough, cough -- smog
By Marc Perton 
posted May 10th 2006 12:36PM
posted May 10th 2006 12:36PM
It's been a year since we first heard that ionic air purifiers can actually make air quality worse, and that finding has now been confirmed by a peer-reviewed, government-funded study. According to the study, which appears in the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, using an ionic ozonolysis air purifier in a sealed room can lead to ozone levels as high as 350 parts per billion, a level equivalent to a Los Angeles Stage 2 Smog Alert. The EPA has already come out against ozone-producing air purifiers, saying that they have "little potential to remove indoor air contaminants."
Update: As pointed out below in comments, the study quoted above apparently referred to both ionic air purifiers and ozone generators. However, many media outlets, including LiveScience (our source for this post), conflated the two. According to lead researcher Sergey Nizkorodov, a chemistry professor the University of California, Irvine, "ionic air purifiers do emit ozone. [But] none of the ionic air purifiers produce enough ozone when they are used properly to exceed smog alerts." LiveScience has since added a correction, which can be viewed here.
Update: As pointed out below in comments, the study quoted above apparently referred to both ionic air purifiers and ozone generators. However, many media outlets, including LiveScience (our source for this post), conflated the two. According to lead researcher Sergey Nizkorodov, a chemistry professor the University of California, Irvine, "ionic air purifiers do emit ozone. [But] none of the ionic air purifiers produce enough ozone when they are used properly to exceed smog alerts." LiveScience has since added a correction, which can be viewed here.
If it is sooo bad then why does our very own government use to keep the surfaces and air scrubbed clean in the space program's spacecraft and space station ?
For those who do not wish to follow the fold and actually want to know the REAL facts, here is a link to a recent and ongoing ACTUAL STUDY. For those earlier asking if there was any real proof, well... here it is in all it's glory. This study shows that Fresh Air can reduce microbes from 90% to 99.99% on surfaces. Now it's important to note that this top level study has nothing to do with testing of Ionic Breeze or any of those TV ad products - only one company and their products only.
http://fss.k-state.edu/research/reports/OrtegaFrankenHatesohlMarsden200510.pdf
NOW - if you want to learn even more facts about the helpful BENEFITS of properly administered ozone effects indoors and out check out these educational links:
http://www.ecoquestintl.com/dlrdown/freshair_o3option.pdf
http://fss.k-state.edu/research/whitepprs/Franz20050219.pdf
Don't get me wrong here people, I'm not really trying to 'push' or sell any product, but the confusion and mis-information out there needs to cleared up. This company, Ecoquest Intl., that is being studied really seems to have the best thing going.
Hrm... while these studies do mention the ability of ozone to reduce/eliminate harmful germs, it is worth noting that while ozone is great for cleaning surfaces, food, and water, you don't want to BREATH ozone directly.
Ozone can and will harm lung function, irritate the respritory system, exacerbate asthma systems, etc.
That is probably why most medical uses of ozone you will read about about involve blood work or absorption through the skin (ie. NOT via direct inhalation).
I used B&Y Air Purifier http://www.byinternational.com. they have a few units which can clear up whole house.
I created (what was probably) one of the 1st 'Saltwater-Only' (Reef) Aquarium Companies back in the late 80's...as interest grew in the hobby, different technologies became more widely applied to the aquarium industry (in attempts to keep more and more difficult animals alive)...Using O3 in water purification had been used for a long time and while it offered the benefit of a higher redux potential, one of the downsides is that O3 can't decipher good bacteria/organisms from bad...So although it had many benefits, I always saw the eradication of 'good' micro-organisms/bacteria etc, as a major problem with using it...Also, free ozone (which escapes from the filter method) was obviously present and aside from giving me headaches, I hated the 'dry-smell'...I'm currently applying many of the 'water-filtration' methods to air purification...approaching it the same way, ie. mechanical/particulate - chemical - and biological...but since I'm not an engineer or a biologist, I'm stabbing in the dark basically...100 micron pre-filtration, combined with forced air thru coconut shell 'pelletized' carbon offers a good method of removing the larger particles that are pulled into an HVAC return vent while having the benefit of 'stripping' the air of most/any chemical residues...greatly reducing dust, but not eliminating it ( I don't think it's possible to eliminate it) & the carbon does give the returning air a 'fresh-crisp'
smell...chemicals are usually 'heavier' than the surrounding 'air'...but ozone (O3) is not an option as far as 'my air' goes...