Due to the lack of proper research and the manufacturer not giving proper warning, I have exposed my whole family to ozone.  I turned my Rainbow 250 ozone cleaner on for one hour in all the bedrooms and shut the door.  No one was inside the rooms.  I let the rooms air out and went on with life.

My husband who has allergies was complaining about my puppies that had been in the house and the smell.  He has allergies and is confined to chair rest with a broken/healing ankle.  He is confined to the house.  The next day everyone was having breathing problems.  It took a couple days to figure out what was going on.  My 12-year old diabetic child was throwing up, (no fever) ear ache, sore throat.  My 7-year old daughter had burning eyes, sore ear, sore throat.  My husband’s eyes were blood shot, red and sore.  Everyone in the house was coughing up yellow stuff.  We took decongestants.  I have our windows and doors open (in February).  I have shampooed the carpets and dusted.  I cannot get everyone feeling better including myself.  My husband and daughter are waking up with eyes matted shut.  Our doctor says it is due to a bacterial infection.  I know what it is!  I need to know how to get it out of my house and how to get everyone better.  What can we do about this? 

The manufacturer says ozone goes away after 20 minutes and has never heard of this.  They claim it is safe and the unit we have is the smallest one.  Please help.-Tanya , Ohio

 

            As I have previously written, I do not recommend the use of ozone generators for air cleaning purposes indoors.  They are ineffective in removing contaminants that they are purported to and ozone is a very toxic substance to humans and other organisms.  Using ozone for supposedly health purposes is innately contradictory.

            The sell of ozone generators as air cleaners has been a subject of a number of law suits by a variety of state attorney generals.  Unfortunately legal action has not been very effective in getting these, in my opinion, dangerous devices off the market.

            Ozone is highly reactive and in most indoor spaces should not persist in elevated concentrations for more than a couple of hours after the ozone generator/cleaner has been turned off.  As a consequence, the details of the product’s use in your house and health effects experienced by your family are not consistent with what one would expect.

            Ozone can react with a variety of organic chemicals present in air and on surfaces of materials in building spaces.  On reaction new chemicals are produced that can be highly irritating.  These are in most cases aldehydes.  They are more persistent than ozone and can be present in elevated concentrations for at least several days before they disperse sufficiently to acceptable levels.

            Ozone has what is described as a “fresh, sweet odor.”  If it were to continue to be present, you should be able to smell it.  The chemical byproducts of ozone reactions can also be detected.  They tend to be on the pungent side.

Because of controversies associated with ozone “air cleaners” manufacturers should be aware of a variety of health concerns.  Claims of ignorance are not credible.

What to do is the question?  My best advice is to continue to ventilate spaces where the ozone generator was used.  If the problem persists, I would engage a professional cleaning company and have the walls and ceilings washed.

 

February 25, 2005