We have used ozone air purifiers for years, but we are very cautious with
them.  We didn't know the dangers right away.  The ozone can definitely
burn your lungs if it is turned up too high for too long.  If you use
one in a closed room, you will feel this effect in a day or two.  It is
possible we are being foolish and cheap not to replace them with HEPA
air cleaners.  (The Sharper Image type are pretty useless.)
 
If you use one, I would keep the fan running fairly high and keep the
ozone set on low.  If you are able to smell it more than a couple of feet
away from the machine, there is too much ozone.  The only time to crank
it up is for intensive deodorizing when no one is around.  For example,
you can put it in a closet or a room or even a car, close the door, and
run it for an hour or two.  Air the room or car out before you spend any
time in it.  The ozone will deodorize the rugs and furniture.  It will
also kill mildew in a basement.  I wouldn't try this in a season when you
don't want to open windows or doors afterwards.  I would definitely not
lock the ferrets in with the ozone!  Burned lungs make for respiratory
illnesses.
 
We use ours in the open main part of the house where the air and activity
of several rooms, the hall and the front door keep the air moving.  We
turn it off when we are away.  The more pollution there is, the more the
ozone gets "used up" and my husband smokes (though never in the same room
as an animal).
 
How can people sell ozone purifiers if they are bad for you?  Easy.
Think of all the things that are bad for you that people sell.  You would
need a lot of law suits to take most products off the market.  I doubt
the inventors knew how bad they were when they invented them, and they
sure aren't going to give up making money when it's your own choice to
buy their product.  It's "caveat emptor".  We are just fortunate that
there are studies we can access easily when we want to research products.
We can't assume that any manufacturer has our best interest at heart.
Living Air has modified their products a lot to make them more easy to
regulate, but you can still harm yourself easily and they don't warn you
of the real dangers.
 
Blessings,
Judith
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[Posted in FML issue 5106]