is ozone good or bad for you?

[Aceospades]

I hear every day from the local weatherman that ozone levels are dangerously high. Because of all the polluting cities out their, their pumping out too much ozone into the air witch is bad. So I look into air purifiers for my car and home and I find ozone generators. What’s the deal? I know that ozone is good way up in the sky, but I thought ozone was bad when it’s on the ground. How can thies ozone generator air purifier’s work to clean the air. Are these things going to do more harm then good?

[Monster104]

I believe any ozone concentration greater than 5% is fatal, but don't quote me on that.

[Dr. Lao]

The answer is that they don't work and can be potentially harmful.

Ostensibly, ozone air purifiers work by using ozone to attack bacteria and viruses or other particles and chemicals in the air. Their claims are really all over the map, which is a good sign that it is bogus. According to this report, which cites a EPA study, they are not effective at doing anything they claim.

From http://www.airdisinfect.com/edits_3.html
Ozone has not only been proven to be ineffective at removing such pollutants as pollen, dust, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde [as some manufacturers claim], but has also been shown to be capable of interreacting with other pollutants to produce even more harmful chemical compounds.

Use at your own risk.

[Aceospades]

so if ozone air purifiers are bad for me, then what kind of air filter SHOULD i get?

[sethdallob]

Originally posted by aceospades
so if ozone air purifiers are bad for me, then what kind of air filter SHOULD i get?

Anything that's HEPA is good.