Is ionized air harmful?

More and more people are choosing an ionizing device from Biow. The many direct but also preventive effects on health, performance and sleep quality are exceptionally convincing.

In recent years, knowledge of air quality and air purification has undoubtedly increased exponentially. This is often limited to filtering viruses, which can be caught relatively easily with HEPA filters. We would like to use this basic stock of information to clarify more in-depth questions. Because with the air treatmentionizationor ionization offers many health benefits in addition to virus elimination and the possibility oflong-awaited restful sleep to find again.

In this article, we look into the question of whether ionized air is harmful. Where does this assumption come from and what does the research say?

Background: what is ionized air?

Ionized air is air enriched with ions. A distinction is made between positively charged ions (harmful to health) and negatively charged ions (health-promoting). On the one hand, these ions are created naturally by thunderstorms, water atomization (waterfalls), UV radiation and other atmospheric processes. On the other hand, they can also be generated artificially, for example using a process calledCold plasma ionization. You can find more background on the topic in ourBlog post about ions.

What concerns are there?

When ions are generated - whether naturally or artificially - ozone is also always generated. This gas is harmful to health when exposed to high concentrations over a long period of time. In 2019, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECOOrientation values for ozone in indoor air specified, which should not be exceeded.

In the industrial context, for example in the cleaning of buildings, cars, etc., ionizers that significantly exceed these limit values have been and are still being used. Health impairments would actually take place here if the users were in the room during cleaning. However, that is not the case.

With targeted ionization to promote health, on the other hand, exceeding the limit values is often not an issue because the ion production is much lower and so is the ozone concentration.

Can ionized air be harmful?

In the case of targeted ionization for health purposes and to promote sleep, ionized air is not harmful if it can be proven that the ozone concentration in the room is not increased by the ionizer. Buyers of ionizing devices should therefore make sure before buying that the ionizer complies with the limit values.

theUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland examined Biow and confirms that the ozone levels in the room are not significantly increased. A danger from ionized air is therefore excluded.