Ionizers

[Heretic_Cata]

So what's up with them ?
The wiki article is obviously "altered".

So my dad bought one from a guy who didn't knew what it was (for 5000 lei, or 0,15$). And acording to the wiki article on asthma there were scientific proof that they improved the condition.
The gizmo itself is unnoticeable so i don't really mind if it's around or not ... but am curious, is there any truth to claims that say ionizers are good for your health and stuff ?

 

[MrCynical]

My parents have one which lurks round the house, but I've never noticed it doing anything. It's had no discernable impact on their health, or indeed anything else. Until I get some decent scientific proof I'll just chalk it up as an ineffective gimmick.

 

[col]

I have some radioactive material in a locked store. Does that count?

 

[bhsup]

Consumer Reports has had a few articles about them and refuses to recommend them because they make ozone.

EDIT: A quick check at their website seems to indicate they may have altered that stance a smidge and might be willing to recommend some. I only have a magazine subscription, not an online subscription, and I'm not going to bother going through all of the magazines to try to find an article I may have missed, but I'll quote the a section of the online article I saw...

In the meantime, we recommend avoiding ionizers that performed poorly or emitted significant ozone in our tests. “We can't guarantee safety at any ozone level, so it makes sense not to contaminate your living space,” says Jonathan Samet, M.D., chairman of the epidemiology department of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

So what's up with them ?
The wiki article is obviously "altered".

So my dad bought one from a guy who didn't knew what it was (for 5000 lei, or 0,15$). And acording to the wiki article on asthma there were scientific proof that they improved the condition.
The gizmo itself is unnoticeable so i don't really mind if it's around or not ... but am curious, is there any truth to claims that say ionizers are good for your health and stuff ?

No evidence that ionizers do anything, really. Yes, they ionize dust in the air so that it becomes attached to electrical devices, but you already have televisions, lights, and other electrical appliances all over your house that do the same thing. There's never been any scientific study that showed that ionizers have health benefits. I would doubt that you could absorb enough dust in the air as to make it negligible.

 

[skadistic]

I have several Ionizer air claener and two ion generating fans. The cleaners make only a tiny amount of ozone and are not like ozone generaters used to cover smells. New ones come with catalysts to reduce ozone. For all the people that say they don't work don't have one. I got them to cut down on the smoke in the house and it worked. Now that I quit smoking they clean more of other stuff in the air. The dust in diffrent parts of the house is diffrent colours. I don't know what good the Ion fan does ,its a fan and it hasn't killed the plants near it so it can't be all bad.

 

[Narz]

I use one, it certainly makes the air smell better, very good in fact.

I clean the inside once every couple of months and it certainly gets disgustingly dirty. Therefore I conclude that yeah, it does something.

Don't spend a lot of money though. I've done some research and ended up getting this one for $43: http://www.pureaircleaners.com/2000.html. It's better than the Ionic Breeze from sharper image (for $300 or something ).

I know you're not in the states but you can probably find something similar in your country.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

^
300$ !!! LOL I should sell it then.

My dad bought it from a junk shop with 0,15$ from a guy who didn't know what an ionizer was.

 

[Narz]

so, does it make the air feel better when you stand in front of it and breathe?

 

[Heretic_Cata]

so, does it make the air feel better when you stand in front of it and breathe?

I never checked that. But i saw now that the air does feel nicer in front of it.

 

[Narz]

I never checked that. But i saw now that the air does feel nicer in front of it.

That means it's good.