Health Alert: Ionic Air "Purifier" Actually Degrades Air Quality
According to a peer-reviewed, (U.S.)govermnent funded research, those ionic purifier thingies that is a big hit among those who have asthmatic members of the family actually degrades indoor air quality! Ionic air purifiers are marketed as a way to minimize dust, pollen and other airborne particulates in the air.
According to the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, using an ionic 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. Ozone can damage the lungs and cause shortness of breath and throat irritation, and it can also worsen asthma attacks.
In the past few months, the cost of the car-version of these Ionic air "purifiers" had been steadily decreasing and I've been meaning to buy one because I don't like car airconditioning (I don't like closed windows in a car because I feel a bit claustrophobic when driving with the windows closed). Good thing I procrastinated in getting one of those Ionic thingies and now I'll just ignore them when I see it on sale.
technorati tags: health, ionic-purifier, gadget
2 comments:
Hello,
A little while back I blogged about this post on ThisNext.com (check it out at http://blog.thisnext.com/blog/fresh-air.html). ThisNext recently started a month-long private beta and I'd love to invite you to come to the site and make a list of your favorite fitness and health products (and any other products you love).
Clicking this link will get you into your account: http://www.thisnext.com/invitation/8551-7577-4246. It’s a one-time URL that’s only for you, so it can’t be shared.
Once you sign up, you can get started on making a list of your favorite products and telling everybody why you love them – just like Hans Rey has done here: http://www.thisnext.com/list/B3415DD3/How-I-Gear-Up. After your list is made, you can see what other likeminded members are recommending for you. It’s a perfect way to great product recommendations from a community of people whose interests, tastes, and values are in sync with your own.
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Hope to see you around the ThisNext neighborhood. Please let us know how the site’s working for you - we’re still working on it!
Thanks,
Liz
P.S. Don’t hesitate to email me any questions! (lizbarker77@gmail.com)
Please take note of the correction in your link. You might want to purchase one of those ionic thingies for your car. They've been cleared! :-)
Here's the text of the MSNBC link:
Correction: This article in its original form was inaccurate. The study involved two types of air purifiers, those commonly called ionic and those that employ a process called ozonolysis. Only those using ozonolysis were found to contribute to ozone levels that can in some cases exceed air quality standards. “Ionic air purifiers do emit ozone,” said lead researcher Sergey Nizkorodov, a chemistry professor the University of California, Irvine. But he added that “none of the ionic air purifiers produce enough ozone when they are used properly to exceed smog alerts.” The confusion was generated in part by a UC Irvine press release that did not clearly distinguish between these two types of machines. LiveScience regrets the error and any confusion it may have caused. The article has been revised.
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