Negative Ions Air Purifiers – Its Not All Positives

Like many parents, I have also invested a fair bit on air purifiers to remove allergens in the bedroom when my children sleep at night. A three layer air cleaning process is fairly common. The first step is the carbon prefilters which traps larger particles like hair and some odours. The second layer of volatile organic compound (VOC) filters trap odors and airborne pathogens; and lastly the HEPA filters reduce indoor allergens such as dust and pollen. The icing on the cake, negative ion air purifiers which releases negative ions into the air.

Negative ions are abundant in nature.

Negative ions are supposed to be further clean up the air off any mold spores, pollen, pet dander, odors, cigarette smoke, bacteria, viruses, dust and other hazardous airborne particles. Negative ions are also said to increase your sense of well-being and mental clarity.

At this point in time, let me caveat that yes, air purifiers does a wonderful job cleaning up allergens and pollutants in the air, IF you use it correctly.

Dangers of Negative Ions Air Purifiers

The danger of air purifiers does not come from the filters itself but rather, it come from the ionisers. In simple terms, an ionizer uses an electromagnetic charge to add or remove electrons from oxygen atoms, making the oxygen particles either positively or negatively charged as they leave the ioniser. After oxygen (and the allergen/pollutants) passes through the air filter, it detaches from other particles. Before the oxygen leaves the air purifier, the ioniser gives the outgoing air an electromagnetic charge so that it will bond with other pollutant particles more easily. So the cycle repeats itself, clean air is electromagnetically charged so that it attracts pollutant particles and then passes through the filters where the particles are remove. The air is cleaned and charged and released back to look for more particles to bond.

Formation of Ozone, O3

Now comes the potential danger. Humans do not usually breathe ionised air, and many studies have shown that electromagnetically charged particles may damage our lungs. Moreover, if an oxygen molecule bonds with two other oxygen molecules instead, it becomes O3, or ozone. Ozone irritates airways and exacerbate breathing-related problems.

Using the Negative Ionisers Correctly

The best way to use an ioniser would be to use it when no one is in the house, or in the room. Allow the air purifier and ioniser to clean the air without human presence to minimise any harm to the lungs or airways. However, if you are sensitive to ozone, you should avoid ionisers entirely.

Have I known this earlier, I would not have turned on the air purifier and ioniser all through the night. I may have unknowingly made my child’s airway more sensitive after the years because of my ignorance.

How about UV Lights?

Some air purifier comes with an additional UV light which promises to eliminate airborne pathogens. In theory, ultraviolet rays will kill the microorganisms passing through your air filter.

However, in fact, unless the UV lights are equivalent to hospital grade, they will hardly kill any pathogens. So, there is no need to spend extra bucks opting for an air purifier with UV light.