The California ARB board passed a law making it illegal to buy or sell ozone air purifiers in their state. also; protect little old ladies from unscrupulous air purifier vendors who fob off ozone generators as air purifiers which according to them create stage 2 smog alert levels of ozone indoors and can cause permanent harm to granny’s lungs. Are they right or wrong to deny California citizens the right to possess an ozone-producing air purifier? 

Before I got into the ozone business, I sold air purifiers and even spent some time testing the indoor air for an environmental testing company. I studied and learned all about indoor air pollutants, VOC’s, even some disgusting information on the types of biological “crap” that hotel visitors unwittingly breath in (almost always) because hotels don’t clean comforters often, and sometimes semen turns into dust …you get the picture. Anyway, I learned that ozone breaks down those biological agents into inert dust that will not trigger an allergic reaction among those with a deficient immune system. Fecal dust from dust mites floating around, mold spores, the organic human material floating around, VOC’s from cleaning agents thrown into the mix not to mention all of the toxins in our garden variety air pollution and you realize why indoor air is even more harmful to breathe than our polluted outdoor air. So what does the ARB want California residents to do? Buy expensive HEPA filters that won’t do a thing to address the toxic crap in the air and frankly doesn’t even do a good job at removing dust? (air purifiers lack the air moving ability needed to churn the air and draw the dust near the roof down to the filter intake slot of the air purifier).  

Why is ozone called a toxic gas, even smog? Simple. Draw attention away from the taxpaying industries that pollute our air towards ozone, which nature created to rid the air of pollution. We’d all die if we didn’t have ozone “down-low” to oxidize and destroy pollutants near ground level. When there is a lot of pollution in the air, there will be a lot of ozone present doing its thing; getting rid of the pollutants. Instead of measuring the pollutants our authorities measure the ozone in the air and call it “ozone smog”.  

Who is really to blame for smog? Older commercial trucks and buses that are not required to have emissions controls. Years ago I lobbied California lawmakers to mandate that ALL trucks and buses no matter how old be required to possess emissions control devices and suggested the state subsidize 90% of the cost to achieve that goal and partner with factories in China to get those devices made for pennies on the dollar. It was a good idea that was shot down by lobbyists for the trucking and bus industries. 

We agree that ozone air purifiers are dangerous and ineffective. They create enough ozone to harm one’s lungs but not enough ozone to sanitize the air. As they say in California (and Family Guy), NO BUENO! Ozone is fantastic for high concentration ozone shock treatments in occupied structures. What is the best way to transform your toxic indoor air into dust-free, mold, virus and allergen-free fresh air? Here is the protocol I feel is a sound solution to indoor air pollution in California and anywhere. If one were to flow this indoor air cleaning protocol I can’t see how it would not positively impact your health and the health of your family:

1) Your HVAC system fan is under 200 watts, doesn’t waste that much electricity. When on, it draws all the air in your residence over a furnace filter THREE TIMES an hour! Leave the “fan” feature on 24/7 and change your furnace filter every 3-4 weeks. (It will become black …better it than your lungs!)

2) Utilize a MERV 11 FURNACE FILTER. eBay sells them for around $5 each if you buy 12. Great deal, can’t beat it with a stick. 

3) Install a 16″ UVC SYSTEM and place some type of nano tio2 filter nearby to create hydroxyl radicals, short-lived but powerful oxidizers that along with the UV rays will kill any biological material as it passes by, even mold spores and viruses. 

4) Perform a 1-hour weekly ozone shock treatment with 1000 mg/h per 100 sq ft when nobody is home. Place ozone machines ever 20 feet or so and one near the air return. The aforementioned will kill dust mites and neutralize their fecal remains and the poop from roaches and other bugs, a significant source of allergens indoors. We all shed 3 lbs of dead skin a year, and that’s what dust mites eat, so we all have dust mites. Some of us just choose to breathe their fecal remains, and some of us don’t. 

Besides doing those things, never clean with chemicals, use Simple Green or some vinegar and essential oil-based cleaners (look up green cleaners). NEVER use air fresheners. Febreze has over 70 known indoor air pollutants, and even one carcinogen. How they can sell that as something that doesn’t just cover up odors but eliminates them when in fact they are causing indoor air pollution is beyond me. Maybe they have friends in high places so I better shut up. If my website goes down tomorrow you’ll know why, lol. 

One last word on this subject. Every year cheaply built ozone generators typically sold for under $100 and which look like air purifiers are mistaken for air purifiers, usually by a relative visiting from out of town to spend the night in your mountain cabin for instance, and the result is a coughing fit and chest pain, not good. If someone falls asleep with one of these 3500 mg/h so-called “ozone air purifiers” running in a bedroom, the ozone concentrations can reach over 6 ppm and do some severe damage to the lungs of a sleeping person. Most litigation involving ozone generators deals with this particular scenario. I only bring this up because our ozone shock treatment machines can never be mistaken for an air purifier. Due to their open design, it’s easy to remove the ozone plates and store them in a safe location away from kids so that even if the machine is plugged in, it can’t produce ozone.