Last Friday, the LA Times announced that the California Air Resources Board banned in-home ozone air purifiers because ozone can cause significant adverse health impacts. Before issuing the ban, California regulators reviewed thousands of peer-review studies that definitively link ozone exposure to increased asthma and other potentially deadly respiratory diseases, permanent lung damage and other health problems.
Every time I see an ad for an ozone air purifier or hear some consumer talk about how much they like their ozone air purifier, I cringe. So, my first reaction to the news about the California Air Resources Board ban was “it’s about time someone did something about these products”.
While the California Air Resources Board focused solely on ozone, the fact is that ozone air purifiers not only put bad stuff – ozone – into the air, but many of them don’t take the bad stuff – like dust, pollen and tobacco smoke – out of the air. For example, a couple of years ago, client of mine tested one of the most popular ozone air purifiers using the ANSI/AHAM AC-1 test method and found that it had a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of something like 8. CADR is a measure of the appliance’s ability to reduce smoke, dust, and pollen particles in the 0.10 to 11 micron (μm) size range from the air. Using the rule of thumb that the CADR should be at least 2/3 of a room's area, an air cleaner with a CADR of 8 would be suitable for a 12 square foot room.
I started my housewares career as the Marketing Manager who was responsible for air cleaners at Norelco back in the early 1990's when Norelco was one of the market leaders in the category, so air cleaners have always been near and dear to my heart. So, my second reaction was “this is could kill the entire air cleaner category.” The California Air Resources Board did say that other types of air purifiers “can be safe and effective” but how many consumers are going have a knee jerk reaction and assume that all air purifiers are unsafe to use? How many consumers who might have been thinking about buying an air cleaner are going to be scared away by the publicity on the California ban on ozone air purifiers?
There is already such a huge gap between the number of U.S. households who own an air cleaner (17 million U.S. households, 16% of U.S. households) and the number of people who should own an air cleaner because they suffer from allergies (more than 50 million Americans have nasal allergies, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.) It’s time for air cleaner manufacturers (the legitimate ones that are members of AHAM’s Air Cleaner Certification Program) to step up and start advertising, promoting, and publicizing their air cleaners...or else there may not be enough of an air cleaner category left to advertise, promote or publicize.
