If you want cleaner fresher air in your home, you’ve got some work to do. Not in terms of installing a new gadget or retrofitting the air conditioner, but homework. It’s difficult to balance the glowing reports of certain ozone generators, negative ion generators, ionization laundry systems . . . with more skeptical comments from Consumer Reports, certain state governments (yo! California!) and researchers.
For one thing, most of the research is old. Exciting discoveries from . . . 1995??? At least one credible medical source, WebMD, says that negative ion generators are not dangerous (http://www.webmd.com/news/20060511/ozone-generators-home-smog). WebMD also quotes a Columbia University study that showed a positive effect on depression. (http://innovation.columbia.edu/technologies/382_negative-ion-therapy-for-depression)
How do they work? Ionizers attract airborne particles to an electron, similar to what we know as static electricity. The National Health Service in England is convinced, and certain airborne infections in hospitals there were eliminated after the government installed negative air ionizers. Japanese use personal ionizers to fight the SARS pandemic.
The jury leans right: negative ion generators are a positive
All this amounts to a jury leaning towards a positive review of negative ion generators. RGF Environmental Group of Riviera Beach, Fla., a company with a 30-year history of making green products for homeowners, just announced a new ion generator that’s designed to be added to the air handler on an air conditioner (http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/ion-generator-improves-iaq-in-air-conditioned-spaces-20049364).
The bottom line is that ion generators seem to work. Researchers and government officials endorse them for disinfecting the air and affecting your mood in a positive way. But experts also warn you to stay away from ozone generators which, if they emit enough ozone to kill bacteria, can also irritate human lungs.
If it’s air purification you want, almost everyone agrees on just one thing: A HEPA filter for your AC is completely safe and removes most particulate matter that can irritate the lungs.