Is
Ozone Safe?
- The Confusion over Smog vs. Ozone
Many
companies marketing air purifiers today are causing much confusion
over the difference between ozone and smog.
This confusion is causing the public to believe that ozone and
smog are one and the same. This could not be further from the
truth. Smog is not ozone! Smog is a combination of harmful pollutants
and chemicals found in the air. This occurs more frequently in
the air of heavily congested inner cities. Smog is that haze that
you see hanging over some of our larger cities around the world.
Sources of VOCs and NO2 include the following:
• Automobiles, trucks and buses
• Gasoline storage and transfer
• Large combustion and industry sources such as utilities
• Industrial use of solvents and degreasing agents
• Consumer products such as paints and cleaners, Off-road
engines such as aircraft, locomotives, construction equipment,
and lawn and garden equipment.
Ozone is formed through a complex chemical reaction between volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (smog) in the
presence of sunlight and heat. Ozone is O3, three atoms of oxygen
linked together, rather than the two atoms of oxygen, O2, we normally
breath. Ozone is NOT smog.
While some people mistakenly refer to ozone as smog,
smog is actually a combination of hydrocarbons, those being CO2,
CO, and SO2 that react with UV rays from the sun to form nitric
oxides (NOX).
What is commonly called "ozone" in referring to the
ground level air quality are really a mixture of different toxic
hydrocarbons, not ozone. So the two cannot be the same!
First we need to discuss the positive side of ozone. Ozone's
benefits are widely accepted and recognized throughout the world.
Unfortunately, ozone has been largely ignored in the United States.
In the future ozone may replace many ineffective forms of air
purification, once the public becomes educated to the real benefits
of ozone. Mother nature uses ozone to fight the negative effects
of this contaminated air known as smog. Ozone is that fresh air
smell you experience after a thunderstorm. The negative ions produce
that excited feeling that you experience after that same thunderstorm.
Our bodies are electrical. We are attracted to the ionic changes
in our atmosphere.
Exposure to high levels of ozone, not low levels of ozone,
has been linked to a number of health effects, including significant
decreases in lung function, inflammation of the airways, and increased
respiratory symptoms, such as cough and pain when taking a deep
breath. Exposure can also aggravate lung diseases such as asthma,
leading to increased medication use and frequent medical visits.
Active children are the group at highest risk from ozone exposure
because they often spend a large part of the summer playing outdoors.
Children are also more likely to have asthma, which may be aggravated
by ozone exposure. Other at-risk groups include adults who are
active outdoors ( e.g., some outdoor workers) and individuals
with lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease. In addition, long-term exposure to moderate levels of
ozone (above .04) may cause permanent changes in lung structure,
leading to premature aging of the lungs and worsening of chronic
lung disease.
Ozone also affects vegetation and ecosystems,
leading to reductions in agricultural crop and commercial forest
yields, reduced growth and survivability of tree seedlings, and
increased plant susceptibility to disease, pests, and other environmental
stresses ( e.g., harsh weather). In long-lived species, these
effects may become evident only after several years or even decades
and may result in long-term effects on forest ecosystems. Ground
level ozone injury to trees and plants can lead to a decrease
in the natural beauty of our national parks and recreation areas.
Other research indicates that the level of ozone in areas
such as forests, mountains, urban areas outside of the congestion
of the major cities, usually is closer to a safe level of .02-.03
ppm of ozone. This is a far cry from the dangerous levels of ozone
that most of the public has been led to believe exists everywhere
in nature today. This is just enough ozone to keep our environment
safe. These are the levels of ozone that should be used
in your home to purify your air. Many environmental experts would
try to convince you that any ozone in your home may be potentially
dangerous. This could not be further from the truth. The use of
ozone to purify the air in your home has prompted other uses for
the wonderful benefits of using ozone. Studies are being concluded
showing beneficial uses for ozone. One such study was done recently
at the University of Purdue.
Taking a clue from air purification systems used in surgical suites,
Purdue University researchers have discovered that ozone
can eliminate insects in grain storage facilities without harming
food quality or the environment. Ironically, the gas
is being touted as a fumigant alternative in response to an international
treaty banning the use of ozone-layer harming chemicals currently
used to rid food storage facilities of insects. When ozone is
used for killing grain insects, it lasts for a very short period
of time without damaging the environment or the grain, the Purdue
scientists report in the January issue Journal of Stored Products
Research. "Ozone has a very short life and we're using relatively
low dosages, but enough to kill an insect," said Linda Mason,
Purdue entomology associate professor and co-author of the study.
"The chemicals currently used can kill everything in and
around the grain bin, including people. With ozone, we're not
generating ozone at deadly concentrations, and we have better
control over it when it's present."Purdue's Post Harvest
Grain Quality Research team began its studies in response to the
1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to prohibit
substances deemed dangerous to the Earth's ozone layer. One such
substance is methyl bromide, commonly used against crop pests
in the soil and in grain storage facilities. Beginning in 2005,
it no longer will be available.
A replacement for chemical fumigants is imperative because insects
not only eat the grain, they defecate on it causing development
of fungi, primarily Fusarium and Aspergillus. These fungi can
release potentially deadly mycotoxins that can cause illness in
most livestock and have been linked to some forms of human cancer.
In humans, approximately 76 million cases of food-borne disease
occur annually in the United States, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Experts estimate that 5 percent to 10 percent of the world's food
production is lost each year because of insects, and in some countries
that figure is believed to be as high as 50 percent. In the latest
study, Purdue researchers used ozone to treat rice, popcorn, soft
red winter wheat, hard red winter wheat, soybeans and corn by
the body. The treatments caused no significant difference in any
of the nutritional and metabolic values of these substances in
any of the grains studied, Mason said. The scientists began their
study after a company that uses ozone air purification systems
in hospitals noticed that air vents were cockroach free. Absence
of cockroaches in a large building is unusual, so the researchers
tested various ozone doses on different insects and found the
gas was fatal to bugs.
"All the species we tested seemed affected," Mason said.
"The only ones we don't have control over are immature weevils
since they are hidden within the kernels. Ozone, unlike chemical
fumigants, doesn't penetrate into the kernel enough to kill immature
insects."
Currently, the researchers are studying ways to use ozone as a
preventative treatment by possibly sealing of grain storage facilities
with layers of ozone, much the way a jelly jar is capped with
wax. This is an example of how beneficial ozone can be but I must
reiterate the fact that ozone is not smog!
Here is a list of other benefits to using ozone:
1 Ozone keeps water fresh.
2 Ozone keeps water clean and sparkling.
3. Ozone eliminates oils and other contaminants from water.
4. Ozone eliminates odors from the air.
5. Ozone oxidizes iron, sulfur, manganese, and hydrogen sulfate.
6. Ozone eliminate, spores, cysts, yeast, and fungus.
7. Ozone destroys, bacteria, viruses, mold, and mildew.
8. Maybe the most important, ozone protects the earth from deadly
radiation.
So why the knock on ozone? Without it Mother Earth would
be destroyed!!
Here's the problem!
Many air purifier manufacturer's, for the most part, are using
technology that produces levels of ozone that may be harmful to
the body.
At levels above .05 or higher, it appears to effect the body in
a way that is similar to free radical damage. Long term exposure
to these higher levels may be linked, as we discussed earlier,
to respiratory and other health concerns. Ozone and particles
irritate and inflame the respiratory tract. This is according
to Ellen Ceppetelli, RN, MS, director of nursing education at
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. and an American
Lung Association board member. Ozone can cause a narrowing of
airway passages as well as coughing, wheezing, sore throat, shortness
of breath, chest tightness, eye irritation, headaches, and nausea.
According to the American lung association's report State of the
Air: 2006, more than 150 million Americans live in counties in
which they are exposed to unhealthful levels of air pollution
at least one day during the year. A study published March 15,
2006 in the American Journal of Respiratory, and Critical Care
Medicine reported that when particle pollution in a city declines,
death rates also drop. The study found that for each 1-microgram
decrease in soot per cubic meter of air, death rates from cardiovascular
disease by 3% extending the lives of 75,000 Americans every year.
Ozone does exist in the atmosphere. Everyone has heard discussions
of the problems with the ozone layer. The ozone layer in the atmosphere
exists at a very large distance from the earth. We do not breathe
this ozone. The atmospheric ozone shields us from some of the
Sun's radiation. Ozone is also generated when an electrical spark
passes an atmosphere containing oxygen. This happens when lightning
strikes the earth or an electric motor runs (Yes your laser printer
generates some ozone). The key thing to remember is the concentrations
that you breathe from lightning and electric motors are very low
and of a short duration. There is some discussion about the danger
of the ozone generated by laser printers but that is another topic.
Many ozone generators use an electrical mechanism to generate
Ozone gas. Newer technology utilizes ozone producing lamps, still
others are a combination of ozone and UV. Ozone generators will
clean the air. Bacteria in the air are neutralized. Ozone reacts
with most airborne particles and the particles are attracted to
floor and walls. The particles are not in the air for you to breathe
but they do build up on your floors and walls. This phenomena
only occurs, though, when the machine produces free electrons
vs negative ions. People that claim that Ozone generators will
reduce air borne pollutants are correct. Most skeptics ignore
the fact that it's the free electrons or needle point ionizers
that are most likely to cause what is known as "black wall
syndrome".
The problem is the straight Ozone cleaners, without a catalyst,
are dangerous. Ozone is not dangerous to humans and plants at
very low concentrations. The study in Encyclopedia Britannica
found that levels as low as 0.12 parts per million have a negative
effect on human respiratory systems. This is considered by some
to be a low level of ozone. This is actually a high level to humans
and animals. The latest nanotechnological catalysts will reduce
ozone levels produced to very low levels .01-.02 ppm. This is
directly over the machine. The ambient air records levels in ppb.
This is only a foot or so from the machine. Recent media articles
have indicated that at least some Ozone generators do generate
dangerous ozone levels. You will read testimonials from Ozone
cleaner users who say that the units have changed their lives,
asthma suffers can breathe again etc. These are true. Initially
the Ozone cleaners would remove all of the air born pollutants
making it easier for asthma suffers to breathe. However, the continued
exposure to ozone could affect them in a very negative way unless
the ozone levels are controlled very carefully. Remember that
very low levels of Ozone have been shown to be harmful to microscopic
organisms only. So low levels of ozone at the .04 ppm or less
level is only harmful if you are bacteria, fungus, virus, or a
mold spore. If you are using the newest hydro-photocatalytic nanotechnology,
these little pests will also be oxidized.
One of the most important points that many HEPA manufacturers
and skeptics refuse to acknowledge is that when the hydrated catalysts
cause the ozone to decompose the chemical reaction creates negative
ions. Hydroxyl ions, hydro peroxides, ozonide ions, and super
oxide ions are all produced during this reaction. The benefits
of these ions are above and beyond those of ozone. Your body also
has natural defenses against those ions that simple organisms,
such as bacteria and mold, don't have.
This new technology appears to be taking the future of
air purification to the next level.
