Calif. bans ozone air purifiers

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The California Air Resources Board has placed a ban on in-home ozone air purifiers after studies suggested they worsen conditions including asthma.

The board said all types of air purifiers will now have to undergo testing and certification to ensure they do not emit more than a small amount of ozone, which can aggravate conditions that the devices proclaim to help prevent, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Research cited by the board estimates 2 percent of California households own an air purifier, and more than 500,000 people are thought to have been exposed to ozone levels that exceed federally recognized health standards.

"This is a landmark decision," said Mary Nichols, who chairs 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 California Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, who sponsored a law that required the board to regulate the so-called ozone generators. "There are reports of ozone being generated in someone's living room ... at levels equivalent to having a Stage 1 smog alert right in your own house."

The new rules take effect in 2009.