| How many times have you enjoyed the fresh air | | | | quite different than the Oxygen we love and |
| after a huge thunderstorm? I remember growing | | | | depend upon. |
| up on the farm, I would love the smell of the air | | | | Good air purifiers these days produce very little |
| after we had a big storm with lightning. I never | | | | ozone. Some produce none, but any that has the |
| really understood that what I was smelling was | | | | words "ionizing" as a part of the description |
| ozone produced by the arcing of the lightning | | | | actually produce ozone. If you get an ionizing air |
| through the oxygen in the air. It sure smells good, | | | | purifier it is important to research just how much |
| though. | | | | ozone is being made in the process of ionizing the |
| It didn't take long for well meaning people | | | | air. The EPA sets the ozone standard at 75 parts |
| (inventors, entrepreneurs, scientists) to realize | | | | per billion (ppb). That is very low. |
| that the same fresh air smell could be made in a | | | | Ionizing air purifiers produce some ozone because |
| home appliance. They also found that it would | | | | the ionizer makes a small spark, similar to lightning, |
| freshen the home air and people would by it. This | | | | and charges the particles in the air to make them |
| led to the development of ozone producing home | | | | negative. These particles then attract other |
| air purifiers. Many thousands of units were sold | | | | particles and become so heavy they can no |
| before the health industry started questioning just | | | | longer stay airborne. This does clean the air. Many |
| how "healthy" it was to breathe high | | | | good air purifiers that do this will use a steel cage |
| concentrations of ozone. In fact, as we learned | | | | around the ionizer and this cage will basically strip |
| more about the damaging effects of ozone, it | | | | away the extra oxygen molecule that is |
| was clear that the levels of ozone that are safe | | | | produced. This reduces the ozone that was made. |
| to breathe is actually very low. | | | | The bottom line on ozone is this. We don't want |
| Ozone is basically oxygen with an extra oxygen | | | | to breathe it. Take steps to day to make certain |
| molecule, if that makes sense to you. Oxygen we | | | | you aren't increasing the levels of ozone in your |
| breathe in the stable form has 2 molecules of | | | | home with a well meaning plan to ionize and clean |
| Oxygen, but Ozone has a third. This extra | | | | your air. |
| molecule makes it an unstable compound and | | | | |