California bans some air purifiers

The California Air Resources Board this week banned popular in-home ozone air purifiers, saying studies have found that they can worsen conditions such as asthma that marketers claim they help to prevent.

The regulation, which the board said is the first of its kind, will require testing and certification of all types of air purifiers. Any that emit more than a tiny amount of ozone will have to be pulled from the California market.

An estimated 2 percent of the state’s households have one of the so-called ozone air purifiers, according to air board staff research, and the staff estimated that more than 500,000 people had been exposed to levels of ozone above federally recognized health standards as a result. More than 2 million California residents have some sort of air purifier, and other types can be safe and effective, the air board staff said.

“This is a landmark decision,” said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the Air Resources Board.

“State government needed to set up (its) own standards on air purifiers because many (marketers) indeed are deceiving the public,” said former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, who sponsored a law requiring the board to rein in so-called ozone generators.

The new regulation, which takes effect in 2009, will exempt industrial and commercial uses of ozone generators, as long as people are not present.

The machines deliberately inject ozone into a living room or bedroom, or directly into nasal passages via a personal breathing device worn around the neck. They have been marketed on the radio and over the Internet for years under such brand names as Living Air Purifier, Mountain Air or Fresh Air.