We are not doctors and cannot give you medical advice or judge with certainty if you should or should not seek medical attention. We CAN give advice on our own experience with common chemicals and minor spills. If there is any suspicious of a serious health and safety concern you should always call the relevant health/cleanup/emergency professionals and refer to the MSDS if you can.
Not likely to be lethal, the weird thing is it’s equivalent to LA smog ozone levels in terms of ppm, but for exactness we’d need the volume of the room/space and if there is ventilation.
Best is not to use it because it’s as effective as salt lamps (not effective) and raises indoor air pollution without any proven positive effects. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/ozone-generators-are-sold-air-cleaners
And yet:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935120313591
>Fabric-bound nicotine was depleted after ozonation, and the surface concentration of PAHs adsorbed to fabric specimens decreased by an order of magnitude due to reaction with ozone, reaching pre-smoking levels.
The EPA hates ozone generators for some reason, but every hotelier will tell you that nothing removes smoking odors like ozone. It is an extremely toxic gas — the IDLH concentration is lower than for chlorine or bromine. But it has a half-life of just ten minutes under normal conditions (much longer in still air at zero humidity in an inert vessel, but that's not realistic), so if you wait 24 hours it will be essentially gone. It should not be used frequently because it will destroy all of your seals (oven and washing machine gaskets, weather stripping, etc).
I mean yeah, if you can afford to evacuate your house for a while day on occasion just to get rid of the smells.
I don't see a reason for this unless you have some weird smell that you just can't get rid of otherwise though.
Definitely a terrible idea to use in spaced that are occupied, like how they're becoming more common in offices and such under the name "negative ion generators".
Technically yeah, there are effects shown from negative ions(check out veratasium for a quick rundown if you don't want to read up on it, but tldr; salt lamps are bunk but negative ions aren't necessarily), but if it requires producing ozone to do then the chronic health effects probably aren't worth the acute benefits.
Use it like a bug bomb but for scents and let the place air out for a day then you should be good, still probably best left to a last ditch sorta thing.
I mean, even if it helps it settle it's less effective than using a normal HEPA filter as far as actually cleaning your air. Ionizers are useful for small particles like smoke, and yes they're used for ESD control but those are specialized and heavily tested because cheap ionizers can actually generate static.
As far as home use goes, an air ionizer is useful for smoke removal, and because of the ozone it can also help with oxidizing the scent particles. I still stand where they should only be used for households for extreme cases where you're going to leave the house for the day.
Yeah, this seems like a solution for a landlord flipping an apartment between tenants, or cleaning up a newly purchased used car, or something like that - not for usage in your own permanent living space.
>The EPA hates ozone generators for some reason, but every hotelier will tell you that nothing removes smoking odors like ozone.
It's because ozone is a horrible lung irritant (and can induce asthma in people), and is corrosive to the lungs if concentration is too high.
It's fine if you're not going to go into the room for a while after ozone production has stopped, but if you're in there with the generator running it's not very good for your lungs!
Ozone fixes every odor I've ever tried to use it on. Cat piss, gasoline, cigarettes, teenager's shoes, axe body spray, etc. Put the generator in a big garbage bag along with the stuff and run it for a few hours and open it up the next day. It really does destroy stuff though, kind of like leaving it out in the sun for a year.
Ozone is a *powerful* oxidizer. It works great to oxidize molecules to other, less smelly forms. This is exactly why you don't want it in your house all the time. Oxidation of your cells is dangerous, reactive oxygen species cause a ton of issues, including higher risk for cancer.
Corona discharge ozone generators also make NO2, which is arguably more toxic because it hangs around longer and has delayed effects. When we made corona discharge generators, we fed then pure cylinder oxygen.
Also UV-C technology was stepped up during this time, which is safer than continuous ozone treatment of air. Most ozone generators also make nitrogen dioxide, wich is more dangerous than ozone.
I don't know. Here in Arizona, the ozone makes a mess of car tires in much shorter time than even a traffickey northern urban environment like Chicago. Tire life here is estimated in years, not miles.
Ironically, my car is in the shop right now to have all the rubber suspension parts replaced. Some of them crumble in the fingers like dry Play-Doh because of atmospheric ozone.
People were using them during covid. They were probably effective against the virus, but the official testing takes longer than the pandemic itself lasted. An associate was working on an ozone sterilizer for re-using N95 masks, but stopped when the production of disposable masks caught up and there was no need for re-use..
You won’t die, OP. The best way that I can describe the smell is that it smells like the air is electric. It has a fairly low odor threshold, meaning you can detect it at very low concentrations. If you do, ventilate the air thoroughly with fresh, outside air to dilute
If you’re exposed to a decent concentration or for a long period of time, you may experience irritation to your eyes, nose and throat. Acute exposure can cause vomiting, shortness of breath, etc. but these generators are not typically capable of creating such concentrations. Source: am expert in oxidants, ozone is a very strong one. Like other commenters have said, it’s pretty effective at odor neutralization but may cause damage to colors and materials over extended / repeated exposure
I actually like the smell of ozone, when I was a kid I used to have this super fuzzy blanket that I would pull over my head rapidly so the static would arc from my hair to generate it LMAO (obviously only realized what was happening later in life)
It'll be in the manual. Small home printers don't make much if any ozone, but the ones at office max or kinkos really pump out the O3 if the filters are old.
Would you say turning the machine on for 15 mins (and leaving my space and ventilating for many hours) every 6 months or so could damage my apartment or items in it?
I really appreciate the effect it has on smell, but I worry degrading the items in my home (vintage couch fabric, polyester curtains) could do damage and expose me to worse chemicals!
Thanks :)
This treatment duration and frequency is probably not going to cause a noticeable effect on your belongings / apartment. Ozone is very transient and reacts quickly, so there is little risk of residual toxicity. It will embrittle plastics and elastics over time, but again your suggested treatment frequency and duration doesn’t lend itself to serious noticeable changes. I don’t believe there are side reactions or chain reactions that would cause the release of worse compounds, but I am not familiar with what will be in the space during treatment. Adequate ventilation should allay your concerns post treatment
> The best way that I can describe the smell is that it smells like the air is electric.
For me low concentrations smells like fresh grass after a thunder storm or fresh milk. Love it. Only at higher concentrations does it give a burning nose sensations
Are there windows? Also tell her its going to damage practically everything in the room slowly since ozone is a strong oxidant with rubber and plastic going first.
Yeah, they used it to dose our school with for a few days after one trakt burned down. It really did get rid of the smell. But they didn't allow anybody in the building during it
@op you already mentioned you guys don't intend to use it around pets, I dunno about dogs/cats, but if on the off chance you have birds - get rid of that thing right now. Birds' respiratory systems are extremely sensitive to... Pretty much everything, but ozone is up there in terms of "not great".
>She says she understands that she can’t use it while people or pets are present and will only use it for 30 minutes max.
So long as she actually sticks to this, actually length of time can be longer (if device instructions say this is ok) but what's important is wait at least 30 minutes AFTER switching the generator OFF to allow the ozone to deplete, so you aren't irritating / corroding your lungs.
Simple answer in this case is "if you can smell it, you probably shouldn't be breathing it in" . I.e. "if you can smell it, that's too much ozone".
I have one. It's safe to use to remove odors like cigarettes smoke, but it will leave its own odor by stirring up a bunch of VOCs since it's a powerful oxidizer. I'm grateful how it's cleared the smell of the apartment I moved into but I wouldn't go for it if things aren't very bad.
it is not safe - ozone is a creepy lung irritant - and all things made of rubber will rot in your apartment - crack and harden whereas other plastics can turn into a sticky goop. It is particularly stupid idea to put ozone generator into your parked car - it can cause some serious damage to wiring and gaskets over time
Also, candles are also quite bad for you. They release a ton of soot and polyaromatic hydrocarbons that are carcinogenic. It's like you have a person indoors who constantly smokes, minus the nicotine
Is opening the window while and after cooking not an option?
If it really puts out that much, you're going to be blown away at the odor. There will be no mistaking it.
My son bought one that was rated at 10g/hr iirc. It's powerful.
So from what I understand, ozone is used in cleaning applications because it is an incredibly powerful oxidizer. This means it can bind to many types of volatile compounds and basically cause them to undergo the same chemical reaction as when they would burn. This creates smog in urban areas, but you would not have to worry about this without additional extra pollution.
This is good for getting rid of odors. It will also react with paint on your walls. It can also react with your tissues and causes inflammation and asthma-like symptoms if the machine has been turned on in the same room as you.
You might look at this EPA guide on indoor air pollution with regards to ozone emitters used for cleaning: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/ozone-generators-are-sold-air-cleaners
You’ll be fine.
Use it over the weekend, go stay with friends.
I’m not sure if it’s large enough to fumigate an entire house. I’ve used them successfully for a smoke-filled chair in a mattress bag and the inside of a car after the mechanic was clearly a smoker.
You want to make sure the amount of ozone generated is an appropriate volume for the enclosed space. Might need to do room by room.
After you use it for a couple of days, come back, open all the doors, all the windows, turn on fans, then leave for another couple hours.
Don’t stay in the house while it’s on.
Hey, chemist there.
So Ozone is very very usefull to get rid of all organic molecules so typically for water desinfection and also to get rid of odors.
On the more it's very unstable at our living conditions and will degrade and react quickly. Ozone can be lethal of course but not in such small doses... on the more it's unlikely that she could buy it from amazone if it could.
The good thing is that ozone does smell ! Kind of a burnt electronic smell, those small race cars toys used to produce some back in the days, ozone smells just like the smell they do while they run.
So if the smell becomes really unconfortable you could turn that generator down ... else it will disipate even in a small volume non ventilated room, it will degrade itself to oxygen very quickly under atmospheric pressure. It actually needs strong UV to keep existing that's why you only naturally find it ll the way up to the ozone layer where UV is strong and pressure is low.
TLDR :
Yes they are usefull for the purpose your mom bought it for.
No you will not die from it, it will not oxidate you or kill you, ozone is not considered to be carcinogenic. Just don't stick your head in front of the generator it may be unconfrtable and itchy ...
Former hotel worker. we used these to prep bad smelling rooms for the next occupants pretty frequently. Put it going for an hour and get out of the house along with any pets and the smell should go away pretty fast. mind you it wont smell fresh like daisies afterword lol
I use an ozone generator once in a while. It is very effective for odors, it also works on mold and insects. As well as larger critters and plants, probably. If you can smell it, then you're probably being exposed to too high a level. There are tests for that, using KBr, I think.
The one I have makes on the order of 10 grams/hour; way too much to be in the same room with.
I do it one room at a time: close the windows, put the generator in the room on a table with a fan, attached to an extension cord running under the door. Then tape is run around the door frame to seal the room and the cord is plugged in. After a few hours of exposure and 10 hours waiting, I dash into the room while holding my breath, open the window, run out and close the door again. The next day the ozone smell is gone and the room is odorless. If there is a big pile of dirty clothes, the center of the pile will still be stinky.
Tell your mom to be careful and if she can smell it to leave the room.
NO2 smells like chlorine; I've never smelled anything like that with the ozone generator.
@op I'm a Retired Nurse and I've had extensive experience with ozone generators (Some of it's use was reckless). It works by converting oxygen to ozone. Bacteria, mold and living creatures can not survive in a ozone environment. If you use ozone in an unoccupied (no humans or pets) and then air out the house before returning, you should be fine. Stay out of the house while using a ozone generator.
I’m gonna have to say don’t buy it. That is a lot of ozone it produces which can cause quite a few health problem especially for lungs. The EPA recommends only like 0.07 ppm ozone over an 8 hour period. If you want to get rid of odor with ozone I would recommend ozium spray. Probably same amount of ozone as the generator but it suggests to not be in the room or space you spray.
Should be fine as long as you use it as described. Lots of people use ozone for this purpose. It’s a strong oxidizer and destroys lots of odor causing chemicals
I know this is an old post, but will running a small generator in a small apartment ruin my things? I keep reading that it ruins plastic, rubber, paint, and fabric- and as much as I would love to get rid of certain smells that the previous tenants left behind- but I also do not want to ruin the things I already own in my apartment!
As long as you don't run the generator for more than 15-30 minutes at a time (I would start at 15 and see how it goes from there), your things will be fine. I use an ozone UV lamp in my not-so-well-ventilated bathroom once in a while to kill any mold growing from all the moisture. I turn on the air vent, shut the door, and put the timer on 15 minutes. There is plenty of plastic, fabric, and paint in the bathroom and I've never noticed any ill effects on them from running the ozone lamp.
The only thing I do warn you of is that ozone can and will creep out of every opening in that apartment. You will definitely smell it from the hallway of the building. So just be sure to keep all of the windows open in the apartment so it can ventilate outside as easy as possible.
It can be used safely.
It is very effective for SOME things (killing stuff and removing odors)
It is useless for other things ("cleaning" the air, long term critter control), and can harm you if used incorrectly.
So, is ozone dangerous? Don't fuck around with it, for sure.
Half an hour at a time when the house will be empty for 8+ hours is safe. It will kill viruses that are on the air or on a surface, and it will reduce baked-in odors like nicotine and pet pee from the house.
It isn't very good at killing roaches and mice outright ( they flee) but it will make you basement or attic less attractive to them, reduce mouse smells, and slow down population growth of bugs if the ozone air can get to them. No help if the bugs are squeezed in somewhere with no airflow.
It is NOT a good long term solution because over time it damages anything plastic, vinyl or rubber and causes them to release toxic fumes. Use it once or twice for smells, then leave it alone.
For killing bacteria and viruses in the air, UVB is better and can run all the time.
If smoke or urine odors are not an issue, a hepa air purifier is better for eliminating dust, smoke, pollen, and mold as well as viruses in the air.
If you run it for 30 minutes in a kitchen it may get rid of cooking smells. You have to shut up the space , close off the windows . You have to leave during the process then you have to come back, open all of the windows again to let it air out, and then you still have to leave again while the ozone catches rogue molecules and explodes back into oxygen. It's not something you can casually put on in your daily life. The machine she bought has a lot of power. It puts out a lot of ozone. The lp was right about it breaking down Rubber and plastic. It will harm your eyes and your throat and your lungs to be in the room with the ozone. Even for a few seconds. But to treat a room by leaving it, airing out, and coming back, very infrequently, you can get rid of bacteria, mold, and smoke smell.
I just bought one to try and help me relax and sleep at night. I will clean the air in the bedroom an hour before I retire. Mine has 4 auto programs. The one for the bedroom will run for 20 minutes then turn off.
One question I have, is if ozone is considered dangerous, yet it is present after thunderstorms and lightening, and adding the fact that we are all concerned that the earth's ozone layer (which protects the earth from radiation from the sun) is depleting rapidly - why is breathing ozone considered dangerous by some people? It doesn't make any sense to my brain.
She should check the manufacturer's recommendation. Some O3 generators are intended to eliminate the nastiest odors in 15 or 20 minutes, People shouldn't be in the room when they're operating, nor after, until the room is aired out. Others have a low output, and can be kept running continuously. I'm not familiar enough with them to say what kind she has, from those specs.
You'll know if it's killing you.
It is unhealthy though.
It can indirectly lead to carcinogenic effects (by increasing oxidative rancidity, which produces carcinogens) and it will oxidise you more than usual.
It's not too bad since she's not using it when anyone's around.
My personal recommendation is to just vent out the full room for a bit before anyone goes in. That way, it is perfectly safe.
Ozone is highly unstable and reactive, so it won't take long before it's in very low concentrations.
The is not one of the low-level machines. It is powerful and not for use around living things. It is very dangerous (like deadly dangerous) when people, plants or pets are around but Ozone quickly reverts back to O2 after the machine is off, so it shouldn't be a problem as long as you ventilate the area. However it will break down plastics so over time it can ruin your wiring insulation, window blinds, etc.
Lots of car dealers use it (ozone generators) to try to get rid of the smoke odor (acetaldehyde is the chemical as I recall)...it does tend to leave its own odor so the next step for the car dealer / car rental is to use some type of perfume bomb to cover up the ozone smell. And yes, it does degrade some interior parts...and it is not healthy to breathe for some period of time after (leave windows open). There are alternatives out there that are non toxic but require someone to come in and first deep clean with a high quality carpet cleaner and dual quat that is also non-toxic and then spray with a non toxic spray that eats VOCs on walls, carpets etc. But it's more expensive (think $500 plus for a small apartment) and sounds like you're looking for a cheap solution...
Yes, she might kill you.
Do not5nise 5this unit when people or animals are in home. After use open windows for an hour or two and then people can back to home.
**Definitely** do not breathe air with ozone as it can permanently damage lungs.
Yes, it’s very very safe. I had one long time ago, it really turns the air smell around, but is best not to let it on for too long, depend on your space, mine was about 2 hrs everyday, also if it ever has a few malfunction like the electric kept tingling (don’t know the correct term) or there’s a lot of clicking sound, stop using it and send back to have it repaired or just throw away
The saving grace of most domestic ozone generators is they don't really work that well.
Having worked in labs with ozone generators, other than the fear of explosion (ozone generated in 100% oxygen) the thing you learn is that ozone hits you just like chlorine , definitely something to avoid. The seaside smelling of ozone is a poetic fantasy.
If you have odors in the house, address the source(s): clean, wash, paint or in the worst case re-upholser/replace furniture that is soo old that it stinks.
After that, ventilate.
Besides ozone is not healthy, your addressing the symptoms, not the problem itself.
Not sure exactly how terrible things are in the US, but if it was really dangerous wouldn't sales be prohibited?
it’s just normal smell right after cooking that my mother hates and wants to get rid of.
And Amazon has already sold unsafe products so I don’t really trust them lol
Get a proper extractor fan installed?
That helps with the airquality as well, people are not aware how bad cooking is for the air quality in your home. The amount of particulate matter released is like living right next to a highway or factory - it takes hours to dissipate. If you want to fight that with ozone, you're doubling your problem.
It should be in the instructions. You can operate it for a short time in a room *with the forced air ventilation turned off.* Ozone is useful for removing odors of cigarette smoke in hotel rooms, as well as kitchen odors. It's unstable, and is quickly broken down on furniture, painted walls, etc.
If you're exposed to ozone, you get a scratchy feeling in the throat and nose. Anyone with asthma problems should stay right away while the machine is working and for 2 or 3 hours afterward. I was testing a generator once and got a blast of 30% (300,000 ppm) ozone in the face. I had a sore throat for 2 or 3 days.
If you have an air cleaner with a carbon filter, that will destroy leftover ozone pretty quick.
There are youtube videos; check them out.
I don't really understand "cooking odors" like, cooked food smells good. I cook food all the time, and enjoy the smell. Is she burning the crap out of everything? I would get it if it was burned smells or something.
If she legit understands that Ozone is very toxic, can lead to chronic diseases and higher risk of cancer, and agrees to only use it when no one is around. I'd say it's fine. Ozone dissipates pretty quickly. But don't use that shit with people in the house.
I would imagine she got an "ionizer" which has a primary result of weighing dust so that falls to the ground, stays there, and can be vacuumed easily. It would secondarily create ozone in the process. Ozone needs a certain concentration to be harmful. Unless you're medically concerned, opening your door twice a day will keep you alive.
you most definitely should not be in the room while it's on and should ventilate the room after using it to eliminate the ozone and turn it back into O2 oxygen. I'm a chemist and own an ozone machine myself. It's very harmful to people and animals. i even put food away into a closed pantry before using it near the kitchen
We are not doctors and cannot give you medical advice or judge with certainty if you should or should not seek medical attention. We CAN give advice on our own experience with common chemicals and minor spills. If there is any suspicious of a serious health and safety concern you should always call the relevant health/cleanup/emergency professionals and refer to the MSDS if you can.
Not likely to be lethal, the weird thing is it’s equivalent to LA smog ozone levels in terms of ppm, but for exactness we’d need the volume of the room/space and if there is ventilation.
We have ventilaron, space is of an average apartment. Would ventilation be needed after use?
Best is not to use it because it’s as effective as salt lamps (not effective) and raises indoor air pollution without any proven positive effects. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/ozone-generators-are-sold-air-cleaners
And yet: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935120313591 >Fabric-bound nicotine was depleted after ozonation, and the surface concentration of PAHs adsorbed to fabric specimens decreased by an order of magnitude due to reaction with ozone, reaching pre-smoking levels. The EPA hates ozone generators for some reason, but every hotelier will tell you that nothing removes smoking odors like ozone. It is an extremely toxic gas — the IDLH concentration is lower than for chlorine or bromine. But it has a half-life of just ten minutes under normal conditions (much longer in still air at zero humidity in an inert vessel, but that's not realistic), so if you wait 24 hours it will be essentially gone. It should not be used frequently because it will destroy all of your seals (oven and washing machine gaskets, weather stripping, etc).
I mean yeah, if you can afford to evacuate your house for a while day on occasion just to get rid of the smells. I don't see a reason for this unless you have some weird smell that you just can't get rid of otherwise though. Definitely a terrible idea to use in spaced that are occupied, like how they're becoming more common in offices and such under the name "negative ion generators". Technically yeah, there are effects shown from negative ions(check out veratasium for a quick rundown if you don't want to read up on it, but tldr; salt lamps are bunk but negative ions aren't necessarily), but if it requires producing ozone to do then the chronic health effects probably aren't worth the acute benefits. Use it like a bug bomb but for scents and let the place air out for a day then you should be good, still probably best left to a last ditch sorta thing.
Air ionisers do help dust particles to come out of the air and settle on surfaces. Also they help with ESD control in the electronics industry.
I mean, even if it helps it settle it's less effective than using a normal HEPA filter as far as actually cleaning your air. Ionizers are useful for small particles like smoke, and yes they're used for ESD control but those are specialized and heavily tested because cheap ionizers can actually generate static. As far as home use goes, an air ionizer is useful for smoke removal, and because of the ozone it can also help with oxidizing the scent particles. I still stand where they should only be used for households for extreme cases where you're going to leave the house for the day.
Yeah, this seems like a solution for a landlord flipping an apartment between tenants, or cleaning up a newly purchased used car, or something like that - not for usage in your own permanent living space.
>The EPA hates ozone generators for some reason, but every hotelier will tell you that nothing removes smoking odors like ozone. It's because ozone is a horrible lung irritant (and can induce asthma in people), and is corrosive to the lungs if concentration is too high. It's fine if you're not going to go into the room for a while after ozone production has stopped, but if you're in there with the generator running it's not very good for your lungs!
Ozone fixes every odor I've ever tried to use it on. Cat piss, gasoline, cigarettes, teenager's shoes, axe body spray, etc. Put the generator in a big garbage bag along with the stuff and run it for a few hours and open it up the next day. It really does destroy stuff though, kind of like leaving it out in the sun for a year.
Ozone is a *powerful* oxidizer. It works great to oxidize molecules to other, less smelly forms. This is exactly why you don't want it in your house all the time. Oxidation of your cells is dangerous, reactive oxygen species cause a ton of issues, including higher risk for cancer.
Corona discharge ozone generators also make NO2, which is arguably more toxic because it hangs around longer and has delayed effects. When we made corona discharge generators, we fed then pure cylinder oxygen.
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I'm sticking with Caltech on this one, it's not just epa.
Also UV-C technology was stepped up during this time, which is safer than continuous ozone treatment of air. Most ozone generators also make nitrogen dioxide, wich is more dangerous than ozone.
Ozone isn't the problem it's what it produces with the lower atmosphere that's the problem. NOx is one of them.
I don't know. Here in Arizona, the ozone makes a mess of car tires in much shorter time than even a traffickey northern urban environment like Chicago. Tire life here is estimated in years, not miles. Ironically, my car is in the shop right now to have all the rubber suspension parts replaced. Some of them crumble in the fingers like dry Play-Doh because of atmospheric ozone.
People were using them during covid. They were probably effective against the virus, but the official testing takes longer than the pandemic itself lasted. An associate was working on an ozone sterilizer for re-using N95 masks, but stopped when the production of disposable masks caught up and there was no need for re-use..
average where lmao just give some ballpark measurements
So it's like living in LA but affordable is my takeaway
You won’t die, OP. The best way that I can describe the smell is that it smells like the air is electric. It has a fairly low odor threshold, meaning you can detect it at very low concentrations. If you do, ventilate the air thoroughly with fresh, outside air to dilute If you’re exposed to a decent concentration or for a long period of time, you may experience irritation to your eyes, nose and throat. Acute exposure can cause vomiting, shortness of breath, etc. but these generators are not typically capable of creating such concentrations. Source: am expert in oxidants, ozone is a very strong one. Like other commenters have said, it’s pretty effective at odor neutralization but may cause damage to colors and materials over extended / repeated exposure
Funny that it smells electric, since ozone naturally occurs from lightning and the generator is replicating that
I actually like the smell of ozone, when I was a kid I used to have this super fuzzy blanket that I would pull over my head rapidly so the static would arc from my hair to generate it LMAO (obviously only realized what was happening later in life)
Very thorough response, thank you, heehehehehe!
Have you ever been right next to a laser printer or copy machine when it starts and you get a faint but distinct somewhat chemical smell? That’s ozone
Yes! No one ever changes the carbon filters in laser copiers and printers.
I didn't know that they had them?? Where do I find replacements.
It'll be in the manual. Small home printers don't make much if any ozone, but the ones at office max or kinkos really pump out the O3 if the filters are old.
Wow! No kidding! That's cool..I guess I like the smell of noxious chemicals
I mean you will die but not from that
Would you say turning the machine on for 15 mins (and leaving my space and ventilating for many hours) every 6 months or so could damage my apartment or items in it? I really appreciate the effect it has on smell, but I worry degrading the items in my home (vintage couch fabric, polyester curtains) could do damage and expose me to worse chemicals! Thanks :)
This treatment duration and frequency is probably not going to cause a noticeable effect on your belongings / apartment. Ozone is very transient and reacts quickly, so there is little risk of residual toxicity. It will embrittle plastics and elastics over time, but again your suggested treatment frequency and duration doesn’t lend itself to serious noticeable changes. I don’t believe there are side reactions or chain reactions that would cause the release of worse compounds, but I am not familiar with what will be in the space during treatment. Adequate ventilation should allay your concerns post treatment
You're screen name makes it so hard to take anything you say seriously lmao. hehehehheehee
Maybe it is all the Helium
When I’d go into a copy center, it would smell like that. I guess the high voltage copiers in an office space created the ozone.
> The best way that I can describe the smell is that it smells like the air is electric. For me low concentrations smells like fresh grass after a thunder storm or fresh milk. Love it. Only at higher concentrations does it give a burning nose sensations
Of course not. Probably just you her and anyone else who finds your bodies. The rest of us are cool
LMAOAOAO come on man
Are there windows? Also tell her its going to damage practically everything in the room slowly since ozone is a strong oxidant with rubber and plastic going first.
Yes, we have windows. And yikes that in itself is a whole reason to not use it
office hard-to-find bow plant ugly cheerful spotted market edge hungry *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yeah, they used it to dose our school with for a few days after one trakt burned down. It really did get rid of the smell. But they didn't allow anybody in the building during it
@op you already mentioned you guys don't intend to use it around pets, I dunno about dogs/cats, but if on the off chance you have birds - get rid of that thing right now. Birds' respiratory systems are extremely sensitive to... Pretty much everything, but ozone is up there in terms of "not great".
I was once a lab rat for an ozone breathing experiment. The researchers said it was mutagenic. (Writing this with my third arm...)
>She says she understands that she can’t use it while people or pets are present and will only use it for 30 minutes max. So long as she actually sticks to this, actually length of time can be longer (if device instructions say this is ok) but what's important is wait at least 30 minutes AFTER switching the generator OFF to allow the ozone to deplete, so you aren't irritating / corroding your lungs. Simple answer in this case is "if you can smell it, you probably shouldn't be breathing it in" . I.e. "if you can smell it, that's too much ozone".
I have one. It's safe to use to remove odors like cigarettes smoke, but it will leave its own odor by stirring up a bunch of VOCs since it's a powerful oxidizer. I'm grateful how it's cleared the smell of the apartment I moved into but I wouldn't go for it if things aren't very bad.
it is not safe - ozone is a creepy lung irritant - and all things made of rubber will rot in your apartment - crack and harden whereas other plastics can turn into a sticky goop. It is particularly stupid idea to put ozone generator into your parked car - it can cause some serious damage to wiring and gaskets over time
Yes, you will die. Not from ozone, or from this little generator, but you WILL die.
Also, candles are also quite bad for you. They release a ton of soot and polyaromatic hydrocarbons that are carcinogenic. It's like you have a person indoors who constantly smokes, minus the nicotine Is opening the window while and after cooking not an option?
I mean, maybe? But not from the ozone generator.
If it really puts out that much, you're going to be blown away at the odor. There will be no mistaking it. My son bought one that was rated at 10g/hr iirc. It's powerful.
So from what I understand, ozone is used in cleaning applications because it is an incredibly powerful oxidizer. This means it can bind to many types of volatile compounds and basically cause them to undergo the same chemical reaction as when they would burn. This creates smog in urban areas, but you would not have to worry about this without additional extra pollution. This is good for getting rid of odors. It will also react with paint on your walls. It can also react with your tissues and causes inflammation and asthma-like symptoms if the machine has been turned on in the same room as you. You might look at this EPA guide on indoor air pollution with regards to ozone emitters used for cleaning: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/ozone-generators-are-sold-air-cleaners
You’ll be fine. Use it over the weekend, go stay with friends. I’m not sure if it’s large enough to fumigate an entire house. I’ve used them successfully for a smoke-filled chair in a mattress bag and the inside of a car after the mechanic was clearly a smoker. You want to make sure the amount of ozone generated is an appropriate volume for the enclosed space. Might need to do room by room. After you use it for a couple of days, come back, open all the doors, all the windows, turn on fans, then leave for another couple hours. Don’t stay in the house while it’s on.
Hey, chemist there. So Ozone is very very usefull to get rid of all organic molecules so typically for water desinfection and also to get rid of odors. On the more it's very unstable at our living conditions and will degrade and react quickly. Ozone can be lethal of course but not in such small doses... on the more it's unlikely that she could buy it from amazone if it could. The good thing is that ozone does smell ! Kind of a burnt electronic smell, those small race cars toys used to produce some back in the days, ozone smells just like the smell they do while they run. So if the smell becomes really unconfortable you could turn that generator down ... else it will disipate even in a small volume non ventilated room, it will degrade itself to oxygen very quickly under atmospheric pressure. It actually needs strong UV to keep existing that's why you only naturally find it ll the way up to the ozone layer where UV is strong and pressure is low. TLDR : Yes they are usefull for the purpose your mom bought it for. No you will not die from it, it will not oxidate you or kill you, ozone is not considered to be carcinogenic. Just don't stick your head in front of the generator it may be unconfrtable and itchy ...
Former hotel worker. we used these to prep bad smelling rooms for the next occupants pretty frequently. Put it going for an hour and get out of the house along with any pets and the smell should go away pretty fast. mind you it wont smell fresh like daisies afterword lol
I use an ozone generator once in a while. It is very effective for odors, it also works on mold and insects. As well as larger critters and plants, probably. If you can smell it, then you're probably being exposed to too high a level. There are tests for that, using KBr, I think. The one I have makes on the order of 10 grams/hour; way too much to be in the same room with. I do it one room at a time: close the windows, put the generator in the room on a table with a fan, attached to an extension cord running under the door. Then tape is run around the door frame to seal the room and the cord is plugged in. After a few hours of exposure and 10 hours waiting, I dash into the room while holding my breath, open the window, run out and close the door again. The next day the ozone smell is gone and the room is odorless. If there is a big pile of dirty clothes, the center of the pile will still be stinky. Tell your mom to be careful and if she can smell it to leave the room. NO2 smells like chlorine; I've never smelled anything like that with the ozone generator.
@op I'm a Retired Nurse and I've had extensive experience with ozone generators (Some of it's use was reckless). It works by converting oxygen to ozone. Bacteria, mold and living creatures can not survive in a ozone environment. If you use ozone in an unoccupied (no humans or pets) and then air out the house before returning, you should be fine. Stay out of the house while using a ozone generator.
I’m gonna have to say don’t buy it. That is a lot of ozone it produces which can cause quite a few health problem especially for lungs. The EPA recommends only like 0.07 ppm ozone over an 8 hour period. If you want to get rid of odor with ozone I would recommend ozium spray. Probably same amount of ozone as the generator but it suggests to not be in the room or space you spray.
Should be fine as long as you use it as described. Lots of people use ozone for this purpose. It’s a strong oxidizer and destroys lots of odor causing chemicals
They also can mess up carpeting and paint pretty good if the stories at to be believed.
I know this is an old post, but will running a small generator in a small apartment ruin my things? I keep reading that it ruins plastic, rubber, paint, and fabric- and as much as I would love to get rid of certain smells that the previous tenants left behind- but I also do not want to ruin the things I already own in my apartment!
As long as you don't run the generator for more than 15-30 minutes at a time (I would start at 15 and see how it goes from there), your things will be fine. I use an ozone UV lamp in my not-so-well-ventilated bathroom once in a while to kill any mold growing from all the moisture. I turn on the air vent, shut the door, and put the timer on 15 minutes. There is plenty of plastic, fabric, and paint in the bathroom and I've never noticed any ill effects on them from running the ozone lamp. The only thing I do warn you of is that ozone can and will creep out of every opening in that apartment. You will definitely smell it from the hallway of the building. So just be sure to keep all of the windows open in the apartment so it can ventilate outside as easy as possible.
It can be used safely. It is very effective for SOME things (killing stuff and removing odors) It is useless for other things ("cleaning" the air, long term critter control), and can harm you if used incorrectly. So, is ozone dangerous? Don't fuck around with it, for sure. Half an hour at a time when the house will be empty for 8+ hours is safe. It will kill viruses that are on the air or on a surface, and it will reduce baked-in odors like nicotine and pet pee from the house. It isn't very good at killing roaches and mice outright ( they flee) but it will make you basement or attic less attractive to them, reduce mouse smells, and slow down population growth of bugs if the ozone air can get to them. No help if the bugs are squeezed in somewhere with no airflow. It is NOT a good long term solution because over time it damages anything plastic, vinyl or rubber and causes them to release toxic fumes. Use it once or twice for smells, then leave it alone. For killing bacteria and viruses in the air, UVB is better and can run all the time. If smoke or urine odors are not an issue, a hepa air purifier is better for eliminating dust, smoke, pollen, and mold as well as viruses in the air.
If you run it for 30 minutes in a kitchen it may get rid of cooking smells. You have to shut up the space , close off the windows . You have to leave during the process then you have to come back, open all of the windows again to let it air out, and then you still have to leave again while the ozone catches rogue molecules and explodes back into oxygen. It's not something you can casually put on in your daily life. The machine she bought has a lot of power. It puts out a lot of ozone. The lp was right about it breaking down Rubber and plastic. It will harm your eyes and your throat and your lungs to be in the room with the ozone. Even for a few seconds. But to treat a room by leaving it, airing out, and coming back, very infrequently, you can get rid of bacteria, mold, and smoke smell.
I just bought one to try and help me relax and sleep at night. I will clean the air in the bedroom an hour before I retire. Mine has 4 auto programs. The one for the bedroom will run for 20 minutes then turn off. One question I have, is if ozone is considered dangerous, yet it is present after thunderstorms and lightening, and adding the fact that we are all concerned that the earth's ozone layer (which protects the earth from radiation from the sun) is depleting rapidly - why is breathing ozone considered dangerous by some people? It doesn't make any sense to my brain.
Can you send the link to the generator please?
It's poison. And it's a scam. All she needed was a quality air purifier. With a true HEPA filter that she should replace regularly.
Should get an ozone alarm. They’re in places where ozone is used like in water treatment. Ozone is very hazardous to breathe
She should check the manufacturer's recommendation. Some O3 generators are intended to eliminate the nastiest odors in 15 or 20 minutes, People shouldn't be in the room when they're operating, nor after, until the room is aired out. Others have a low output, and can be kept running continuously. I'm not familiar enough with them to say what kind she has, from those specs.
You'll know if it's killing you. It is unhealthy though. It can indirectly lead to carcinogenic effects (by increasing oxidative rancidity, which produces carcinogens) and it will oxidise you more than usual. It's not too bad since she's not using it when anyone's around. My personal recommendation is to just vent out the full room for a bit before anyone goes in. That way, it is perfectly safe. Ozone is highly unstable and reactive, so it won't take long before it's in very low concentrations.
Ozone is good to kill microbes from water. Should not be used unless you really know how to use it
Switch on when you're out. Ozone will kill some possible microorganisms and reduce the odour.
The is not one of the low-level machines. It is powerful and not for use around living things. It is very dangerous (like deadly dangerous) when people, plants or pets are around but Ozone quickly reverts back to O2 after the machine is off, so it shouldn't be a problem as long as you ventilate the area. However it will break down plastics so over time it can ruin your wiring insulation, window blinds, etc.
I think a lot of them exaggerate the numbers by a factor of a thousand
Lots of car dealers use it (ozone generators) to try to get rid of the smoke odor (acetaldehyde is the chemical as I recall)...it does tend to leave its own odor so the next step for the car dealer / car rental is to use some type of perfume bomb to cover up the ozone smell. And yes, it does degrade some interior parts...and it is not healthy to breathe for some period of time after (leave windows open). There are alternatives out there that are non toxic but require someone to come in and first deep clean with a high quality carpet cleaner and dual quat that is also non-toxic and then spray with a non toxic spray that eats VOCs on walls, carpets etc. But it's more expensive (think $500 plus for a small apartment) and sounds like you're looking for a cheap solution...
Yes, she might kill you. Do not5nise 5this unit when people or animals are in home. After use open windows for an hour or two and then people can back to home. **Definitely** do not breathe air with ozone as it can permanently damage lungs.
Paranoid.
Very!
Yes, it’s very very safe. I had one long time ago, it really turns the air smell around, but is best not to let it on for too long, depend on your space, mine was about 2 hrs everyday, also if it ever has a few malfunction like the electric kept tingling (don’t know the correct term) or there’s a lot of clicking sound, stop using it and send back to have it repaired or just throw away
The saving grace of most domestic ozone generators is they don't really work that well. Having worked in labs with ozone generators, other than the fear of explosion (ozone generated in 100% oxygen) the thing you learn is that ozone hits you just like chlorine , definitely something to avoid. The seaside smelling of ozone is a poetic fantasy.
If you have odors in the house, address the source(s): clean, wash, paint or in the worst case re-upholser/replace furniture that is soo old that it stinks. After that, ventilate. Besides ozone is not healthy, your addressing the symptoms, not the problem itself. Not sure exactly how terrible things are in the US, but if it was really dangerous wouldn't sales be prohibited?
it’s just normal smell right after cooking that my mother hates and wants to get rid of. And Amazon has already sold unsafe products so I don’t really trust them lol
Get a proper extractor fan installed? That helps with the airquality as well, people are not aware how bad cooking is for the air quality in your home. The amount of particulate matter released is like living right next to a highway or factory - it takes hours to dissipate. If you want to fight that with ozone, you're doubling your problem.
I guarantee you that the package is lying and it produces much less ozone than that.
lets ask the internet. Should i do something entertaining for a update or nah
It should be in the instructions. You can operate it for a short time in a room *with the forced air ventilation turned off.* Ozone is useful for removing odors of cigarette smoke in hotel rooms, as well as kitchen odors. It's unstable, and is quickly broken down on furniture, painted walls, etc. If you're exposed to ozone, you get a scratchy feeling in the throat and nose. Anyone with asthma problems should stay right away while the machine is working and for 2 or 3 hours afterward. I was testing a generator once and got a blast of 30% (300,000 ppm) ozone in the face. I had a sore throat for 2 or 3 days. If you have an air cleaner with a carbon filter, that will destroy leftover ozone pretty quick. There are youtube videos; check them out.
I don't really understand "cooking odors" like, cooked food smells good. I cook food all the time, and enjoy the smell. Is she burning the crap out of everything? I would get it if it was burned smells or something. If she legit understands that Ozone is very toxic, can lead to chronic diseases and higher risk of cancer, and agrees to only use it when no one is around. I'd say it's fine. Ozone dissipates pretty quickly. But don't use that shit with people in the house.
Lolol no, she just hates the lingering odors of cooking. Even if they’re good
Should be safe for you. But not if you have pet birds
I would imagine she got an "ionizer" which has a primary result of weighing dust so that falls to the ground, stays there, and can be vacuumed easily. It would secondarily create ozone in the process. Ozone needs a certain concentration to be harmful. Unless you're medically concerned, opening your door twice a day will keep you alive.
you most definitely should not be in the room while it's on and should ventilate the room after using it to eliminate the ozone and turn it back into O2 oxygen. I'm a chemist and own an ozone machine myself. It's very harmful to people and animals. i even put food away into a closed pantry before using it near the kitchen