# Ionizers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ionizers/61111>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 7, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ionizers/61111 "2001-04-07T02:18:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JKB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@JKB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKB)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ionizers/61111/1 "2001-04-07T02:18:25Z")

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Do electric “negative ionizers” really DO anything (aside from turning the surrounding walls gray?). I hear they spew out negative ions, but is the result humanly detectable?

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**Author:** ![exchicagoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@exchicagoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exchicagoan)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ionizers/61111/2 "2001-04-08T05:21:46Z")

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I hope somebody that KNOWS the answer to this see the question. I too have 3 air cleaning machines that have this feature and NOBODY has a clue what it’s supposed to do.

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**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ionizers/61111/3 "2001-04-08T10:56:53Z")

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Hi guys!

Do you mind if I show off some stuff I’ve just learned recently?

There is a **terrific** search engine called Google which you can find [here](http://www.google.com/search?q=ionisers&btnG=Google+Search).

When I fed in the word “ionisers” (sorry about the spelling - I’m australian. It’s a Crocodile Dundee thing)  
I got heaps of responses. One of the first was from a paper at some Aerosol conference

The second paragraph included the words

> [@](#):
>
> Air ionisers generate negative ions by corona discharge. The ionisation process is also accompanied by extravagant claims of ions stimulating the brain, relieving headaches, reducing the problems of asthma and restoring the natural electrical balance to polluted air. Quite what is desirable about a natural electrical balance (which in some situations could be a considerable excess of either positive or negative ions) remains unclear, however it is at least commercially important.

and

> [@](#):
>
> The evidence for the benefits efficacy of ionisers on health is largely anecdotal, although there are some studies which appear to have directly demonstrated their utility. It is hard to postulate a single mechanism by which the ioniser can operate to justify all the claims made.

There are some studies quoted later, which appear to show results from ionisers but **I have my doubts!**

If you wanted to explore Google a bit more you might be able to report back with more detailed or useful findings.

My thanks for this go to the regular poster **Duck Duck Goose** who is the one who showed me how to Google before asking a General Question.

Thanks for letting me play guys!

Sally Field [sub]- no, that’s not right. Ah yes,[/sub] Redboss

[sub]just say no to sigs[/sub]

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ionizers/61111/4 "2001-04-08T12:56:13Z")

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You might want to go [here](http://www.mlmwatch.org/04C/Alpine/alpine.html) to learn what the US justice system thinks these things are capable of doing.  
The amount of Ozone they spew out is below the allowable TOXIC LIMIT, but that doesn’t actually make them beneficial. If you want to have clean air in your house, it’s a lot cheaper to get a decent filter for the AC.