Ozone air purifiers have been the cause of much recent
controversy. Put forth by many manufacturers as a safe and
effective way to remove odors from your home, many brands,
including Prozone air purifiers, have come under fire from other
authorities on indoor air cleaners, who claim that ozone is
unsafe. And, unfortunately for the manufacturers of these ozone
air purifiers, it would seem that the evidence piling up against
them is rather weighty.
While many of us might not understand the workings of an ozone
air purifier, we are all familiar with the term from
environmentalists, who have been urging us for years to take
steps against the depletion of the earth's natural protective
shield, the ozone layer. But because this substance is an
important part of our planet's outer atmosphere, this does not
necessarily mean it is suitable for human exposure. And an
increasing amount of evidence suggests that this is an argument
in which ozone air purifiers should lose.
Ozone, used in indoor air cleaners like the Prozone air
purifier, has a scientific formula similar to the oxygen that we
require to survive: it is O3 to oxygen's O2. But what might be a
subtle numerical difference to the layperson is, in fact, a
highly important distinction.
The ozone used in ozone air purifiers is a highly unstable
molecule, unlike oxygen, and has a tendency to bond with other
substances. This is how indoor air cleaners containing ozone
work: the ozone molecule bonds with those nasty odors,
eliminating their pungent effects. But the instability of the
molecule means that it is indiscriminate with what it bonds,
meaning that once let lose in the human lungs, it can cause a
lot of damage.
While indoor air cleaners can increase the air quality in a
home, an ozone air purifier can be detrimental to your health.
So if you have family members who want to improve the quality of
their lives by removing the little things in the air that make
them cough and splutter, stay away from ozone air purifiers -
they will only make the situation worse.
Ozone air purifiers, maybe not the best air purifiers.
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