There are many electronic stores which now sell ozone generators as air purifiers. The manufacturers of these ozone generators also claim that the device is effective against air pollution and there need not be any worries as to how safe it is. However, there are many health organizations across America including the American Lung Association which have claimed that ozone can be seriously harmful to our health and these devices should never be sold disguised as air purifiers.
The ones who are in the business of ozone purifiers claim that ozone is like activated oxygen or pure air. Their intention is to position ozone as a healthier version of oxygen. But we must remember what we learnt in chemistry when we were in school, that is, ozone is a completely different chemical from oxygen and it is toxic, especially when we inhale it in.
The molecular structure of ozone and oxygen are pretty similar though. While ozone is composed of three atoms of oxygen, oxygen itself has just two. Again an ozone molecule is not very stable by itself and readily reacts with other substances. This is because the third oxygen atom in ozone acts as a free radical. It readily dissociates from the other two to react with another substance. The remaining two are released in the air forming oxygen.
The working of an ozone purifier is based on this principle. The free radical reacts with the organic substances present in the air while the other two atoms forming oxygen purify the air. Although the logic seems pretty strong, there is one gaping hole in it as is rightly pointed out by many health experts.
Their main contention is that there is no guarantee that the ozone being emitted from the device is not breathed in by the user. And if some one breathes in ozone then the free radical now has no option but to react with the organic substances present in our body. This is potentially very harmful to our body. There ca be severe consequences because of this. If you inhale ozone you can actually damage your lungs.
So if you were thinking of getting an ozone purifier, think again. In any case there is plenty of oxygen in the air and we don't need any more. All we got to do is to ensure that the air we breathe in is free of these particulates. And this can be achieved by other purifiers as well.
