Air Sanitizer

Asthma is a disease in which tubes in the lungs overreact to certain situations. Sometimes allergies to particles in the air cause asthma, but our daughter has a problem primarily with upper respiratory tract infections and ozone-related pollution. For example when summer days here in Birmingham, Alabama cause smog to descend heavily on the city my sweet little girl often has trouble breathing. When looking into air purifiers for our home we found that there is a lot of misinformation about what is offered to those who need good air cleaning at a reasonable price. One good option is to get a big unit with advanced filters (HEPA type) that moves a lot of air. The downside of this method is that it can be expensive in power bills and filter replacement.
 
Another option that has been advertised very aggressively is the air ionizer. As opposed to an air filter which pushes air through some sort of filter that catches particles and keeps them from going back into the air- an ionizer modifies molecules in the air. My first memory of ionizers was the "ozone generator" which was advertized to make air as clean as after a thunderstorm. The idea was that lightning produces charged molecules of the gas ozone (O3) which is healthier than contaminated air. In theory ozone generators can decontaminate the air from certain particles because the ions produced by ozone generators act as a kind of magnet that forces certain particles in the air to stick to solid objects such as the fibers in the carpet, drapes, or metal plates within the ozone generator. Sadly for the producers of ozone generators the EPA has the belief that ozone is a harmful gas that needs to limited. When it was revealed that ozone generators generally produce harmful levels of ozone in enclosed spaces some state and local governments moved to regulate the sale of the devices. The ozone generator manufacturers changed the name of their devices. Now some are sold as air sanitizers.
 
I recently was offered the use of one such air sanitizer called the "Boomerang". I asked if it was a filter and was informed that it was "much better". The person offering me the "Boomerang" told me that it worked like an ozone generator but without the ozone. On the company website I found that the device generates "hydroxyl ions, hydro peroxide ions, and ozonide ions" which act as oxidizers to sanitize air and surfaces. What is ozonide? The molecular formula is O3−. It should look familiar because it is ozone with a negative charge. Release ozonide into room air and I suspect you would find that it would act much like ozone. In other words the Boomerang is essentially an ozone generator by another name.
 
The person who told me about this Boomerang described that one customer found it to be so good that all the spiders left their home because their were no bugs to find in the "clean" air. I countered that it was probably due to the fact that the air became too toxic. The fact is that ozone and the compounds that result from its reaction with surrounding molecules are powerful oxidizers just like the website for the device stated. This, however, is not a good thing. When reading the word "oxidizer" it helps to think another catch-word from not too long ago- "free-radical". Oxidizers are ions that "look" for electrons to "steal" from other molecules and these ions can cause cell damage or death if they contact a vulnerable molecule in the cell. This explains why ozone causes such significant irritation in my daughter's lungs. While toxic doses of ozone will kill bacteria and fungus the ions produced by devices such as the boomerang more often cause these particles to attach themselves to the floor and other solid objects around the room. Think of how having an ionizer in the bathroom influences this process. All those particles aerosalized by flushing will be encouraged by the air ionizer to settle on door handles, counter surfaces, and other such areas. Not such a nice thought.

My family opted for HEPA air filters placed throughout the home when we anticipate the need for increased air purification. Not only will our air be cleaner and the ozone be much less, but our surfaces will be cleaner and need less dusting. When it comes to adopting "new" technology it often pays to ignore the hype and look into the basic mechanics involved.