Here’s how eco-friendly air purifiers can improve indoor air quality in your home, office, or school, while creating zero ozone emissions.
As the COVID-19 pandemic radically shifted the way that we work, learn, and socialize, the conversation around air quality has also changed. Before 2020, indoor air quality was a niche topic, mostly discussed by site managers and HVAC professionals. But with the virus proving to spread exponentially more indoors, ensuring excellent air inside has become a mainstream concern.
Air purifiers have emerged as a critical tool for keeping indoor air clean and the people within a space safe. Interest around different types of air cleaning technology has never been higher – but along with the extensive benefits of air purifying systems come some risks, including ozone emissions. Some air cleaners generate ozone as a byproduct, which poses a risk to both human health and the environment.
The good news is that UL 2998 validated air purifiers don’t generate any ozone. Read on to learn how these eco-friendly air purifiers can improve indoor air quality in your home, office, or school, while creating zero ozone emissions.
Air purifiers and ozone risk
Ozone is a gas composed of three oxygen molecules. Better known as smog, it is one of the most common air pollutants found today. It’s harmful for humans to breathe, as well as damaging to the environment. Unfortunately, many air purifiers that are meant to boost the air quality in a room create ozone in the process.
According to the California Air Resources Board, the ozone emitted by some air purifiers can make the air in a space significantly worse. The gas “has been found to react with existing chemicals in the air to create additional toxic pollutants, most notably formaldehyde and ultrafine particles.”
The EPA explains that breathing even relatively small amounts of ozone can cause:
- Chest pain
- Coughing
- Shortness of breath
- Throat irritation
- Worsening of chronic respiratory diseases, including asthma
Most worryingly, the EPA also states that it has found that because ventilation in individual spaces varies, a significant number of commercial air cleaners on the market end up emitting higher levels of ozone than are permitted by law.
Even when following manufacturers’ instructions, many people may be inadvertently exposing themselves to levels of ozone that are above safe levels because they turned on their air purifier while closing the doors and windows in a space.
UL-2998 validation: Why it matters
Some air purification systems market themselves as ozone-free, even though that’s not actually the case. This leaves the public confused and unsure of whether or not a device is actually a zero ozone product.
Industry watchdog Underwriters Laboratories created the UL-2998 certification to cut through the noise and provide a guarantee that air cleaners are not emitting ozone. When air purification systems are independently investigated and tested by the lab, they earn objective third-party verification so that consumers can know a device is truly ozone-free.
A UL-2998 validated device is one that consumers can trust as an ozone-safe system, that’s better for both their health and the Earth.
Zero ozone devices and sustainability
High levels of ozone are devastating for the environment, the EPA reports. Ozone exposure can stunt plants’ growth, reduce their photosynthesis process, and increase their risk of disease and make them less weather-resistant. This harm to plants has an overall, big-picture effect on ecosystems, including:
- loss of species diversity (less variety of plants, animals, insects, and fish)
- changes to habitat quality
- changes to water and nutrient cycles
In order to mitigate the damage to the environment posed by ozone, it’s critical that we all do our part to move towards a zero ozone model. And that means making sure the technology we use in our daily lives is ozone-free.
TADIRAN AIROW is a plug-and-play air purifier solution which recently became UL-2998 validated. Leveraging water molecules already present in the air, TADIRAN AIROW works by transforming them into cleansing hydrogen peroxide, which actively neutralizes airborne pollutants.
Not only is the system a highly effective air cleanser proven in FDA-cleared lab tests to eliminate viruses, bacteria and mold in a space by up to 99.999%, it’s also an eco-friendly choice with no carbon footprint.
If you’d like to learn more about the best UL validated air purification systems to ensure that the air in your space is cleaned effectively with minimal environmental impact, get in touch with us! We’d love to guide you in your search and help you find the best solution to improve air quality in your home, office, or school, while protecting the planet.
