Posted by IsoM on March 18, 2002, at 23:14:05
In reply to Re: Magnetic mattresses anyone???, posted by OldSchool on March 18, 2002, at 21:33:27
Air ionizers have been around for twenty or more years & there was a big hoopla about the benefits of of negatively charged air particles to make you feel good. I was interested back then & read what I could find on it. Much has been written since then & again it comes down to hype & salesmen's pitch.
The difference between the ionization of the air after a storm & what these ionizers give is similar to the magnets in mattresses as opposed to the Earth's magnetic field. After a thunderstorm blows away, the air itself is slightly ionised. What an portable ionizer does is attach a negative charge to the fine dust & smoke particles in household air, not the actual air itself.
An ionizer makes a great air cleaner. When these dust particles receive a negative charge, they're attracted to a surface with a positive charge. The negatively charged particles don't float about in the air, effecting your mood - they head to an opposite charged object instead. Ever notice how much fine dust accumulates around your TV & computer, on the wall & places nearby? It's from the electrical charge from those systems. If you put your nose down close, you can sometimes smell the ozone too - a sharp, metallic smell. Ozone is considered a harmful gas & many ionizers give off a fair amount. If you feel no benefit from working around your computer, you're not going to feel anything from an air ionizer either.
Sorry to throw another monkey wrench into the discussion.
poster:IsoM
thread:98294
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020318/msgs/98714.html