Development
The
UV light and ozone are not new discoveries. Ozone was first discovered in the
late 1800's and used as a water purifier in Europe. UV light was discovered in
the 1930's. Actually, nature discovered it before; it was called the
"sun". The disinfection qualities of UV light are also not new.
Hospitals have used UV light for decades in operating rooms. Barbers were
disinfecting combs in the 1950's with UV light. What is new is the enhancement
of both these natural, friendly oxidizers and the validation for use on air,
water, food and laundry.
History
of Air Systems
In the
mid-1980's air purifiers started to make their way into the residential
market. Ozone air systems were widely used in the commercial restoration
business for fire and flood damage to buildings. These applications utilized
corona discharge systems (CD) that use a spark or electrically charged plates
to simulate lightning. This converted the oxygen (O2) to ozone (O3). The CD
method creates very high concentrated ozone. Plus by using air as the oxygen
source, you are receiving 20% oxygen and 80% nitrogen. The problem with CD
systems is with oxygen conversion you also get a nitrogen conversion, which
makes nitric acid and nitric oxide.
Is Ozone Safe?
The
problem facing the residential air systems was that the cost of an oxygen
generator was so high they went without one. This, of course, created a CD
unit that produced high concentrated ozone plus low levels of nitric oxide and
nitric acid. The maintenance was a problem due to the corrosive nature of
nitric and the high concentration of ozone exceeding the Federal safety limits
of .04 ppm. Ozone readings at the exhaust have exceeded 10 ppm, which is
potentially lethal. Air Oasis decided to stay out of this dangerous market.
Air Oasis low ozone
levels
In
the late 1980's it was discovered that the lower concentration of ozone could
have an effect on odors, mold and bacteria levels as low as .02 ppm (half the
Federal safety maximum) were reported as having significant results. Testing
this theory, determined that safe, low levels of ozone could have a
significant result with airborne mold, odors and bacteria. The problem was to
create a safe residential air purifier that could produce safe, low
concentrations of ozone that would not exceed the .04 ppm Federal limits. This
was accomplished in the early 1990's, about the same time as the Federal
Government was going after the ozone residential units. This battle of the
Feds and manufacturers gave ozone a very bad name.
With
the technology to build a device that produces safe, low concentrations of
ozone and the ability to ensure a room would not exceed .04 ppm, it was time
to set out to validate the use of this device on mold, (About
Mold / Mold Facts) VOC's, odors and
bacterial. Fox TV News was doing a three-part series on indoor air problems
and tested one of the ozone units. The unit they had tested was producing 18
ppm ozone, a lethal amount that drove the camera crew and news reporter right
out of the office. The Fox people then asked if they could independently test
our AHPCO technology. They ran tests supervised by an independent air
specialist and two medical doctors. The series turned out to be a fantastic
infomercial for this technology. The results couldn't have been better. Fox
ran this on their national news network and their national health news.
Popular Science picked up the story for the magazine and ran it on the Popular
Science TV Show.
In 2003 the
AHPCO Cell was developed. Rhodium was now added as a catalyst and improved
hydration compounds were also added. Plus, a total new target concept was
used. A 360 degree cell provided maximum exposure of the catalysts. The bulb
was reworked and a HE/UV Broad Spectrum bulb with a heavy duty filament was
developed. This combined with a soft start ballast gave the new AHPCO Cell an
unprecedented 3 year, 25,000 hour life. This was a major improvement over the
current standard 8,000-10,000 hour UV bulb life. The most important
improvement was the efficacy, the new cell design created more hydro peroxides
and super oxide ions, with ozone levels of .01-.015 ppm or less. Country or
forest air usually has round .01-.02 ppm of ozone. Most people can smell ozone
at .01 ppm, and .05 ppm is the federal safe limit for medical devices. The new
cell also produces hydroxide ions and ozonide ions.
The answer is really quite simple. It is all due to the oxidation defense
system, within your body, which utilizes a special blend of enzymes. Have you
ever cut yourself on accident and then used hydrogen peroxide on the wound?
What happened? The hydrogen peroxide started to fizz or bubble when it made
contact with your wound, right? But why? It's due to the reaction of certain
enzymes within our body that protect us from hydro peroxide, ozone, hydroxyls,
super oxides and more. One example is Glutathione peroxidase. It is a
peroxidase found in humans, which contains selenocysteine. It uses glutathione
as a electron donor and is active with both hydrogen peroxide and organic
hydroperoxide substrates. Another enzyme is Catalase. Present in the
peroxisomes of nearly all aerobic cells, it serves to protect the cell from
the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide by catalyzing its decomposition into
molecular oxygen and water without the production of free radicals. Superoxide
dismutase (CuZnSOD) catalyses the dismutation reaction of the toxic superoxide
radical to molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide and thus forms a crucial
part of the cellular antioxidant defense mechanism. Your body also contains
many other antioxidants to help protect you from oxidation. More and more of
the foods we eat and the supplements we take are being loaded with
antioxidants as well.
To put things in plain english; your body defends itself
against these ions naturally, but mold, bacteria, viruses and other biological
contaminants do not have the same defense mechanisms that we possess.
Therefore the ions we produce are deadly to simply organism, but won't harm
people or their pets.
In March of
2006 the new Quad-Nano Xtreme™ catalyst coating was introduced. With this new
patent-pending coating a fifth powerful catalyst metal was added. Air Oasis
also reduced the metal particle size down to a nano-size particle in order to
increase the surface area and therefore increase the kinetic rate of reaction.
The hydrophilic gel was also improved to further hydrate the coating and react
in combination with the metal catalysts (by donating hydrogen to the ozone) to
decompose ozone to form hydroxide ions and radicals, as well as hydro
peroxides, such as the HO2 radical and hydrogen peroxides, which are desirable
reaction products from the decomposition of ozone due to their strong
oxidizing properties, which enhances the germicidal effect of UV radiation.
While
competitors are using TiO2 alone with no hydrating agents or other less
effective catalyst coatings, Air Oasis is setting the trend for the next
generation of air purifiers.
By using a AHPCO™ Cell with redundant oxidizers the scope of
effectiveness is widely broadened.
