There has been alot written and said in the media recently about ozone, electrostatic precipitator (ESP) air cleaners and ozone generators.  Many articles and reports have mistakenly lumped ESP air cleaners into the same basket without realizing or stating the inherent differences between the two.  It is important for you to know the difference before being "suckered" into an unwanted purchase.

The primary thing to understand is that air cleaners that use electrostatic precipitator technology produce ozone only as a by-product of air purification.  The amount of ozone released is very minimal.  Ozone generators that are sold as air cleaners on the other hand, intentionally produce ozone.  This is a huge difference! 

Many health professionals have concerns about exposure to heavy concentrations of ozone, so some ozone generator manufacturers try to disguise the ozone by using other titles, such as "pure air", "saturated oxygen", or "activated oxygen".  This is tremendously misleading; they are not producing "pure air", they are producing heavy concentrations of potentially dangerous ozone, not improving indoor air quality.

You should also be wary of ozone generators that are sold as air cleaners that have an Environmental Protection Agency establishment number on their packaging.  Consumers may be falsely led to believe this is an endorsement of their product.  This is not true!  The only purpose of this number is to help the EPA identify the specific facility that manufactured the product.  The EPA does not certify air purification devices.

What is ozone?  Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive gas composed of 3 oxygen atoms.  It is formed in a chemical reaction between the diatomic oxygen molecule (O2) and an oxygen atom (O).  Many people are familiar with ozone in the upper atmosphere that helps protect us from harmful UV rays.  Heavy concentrations of ozone from ozone generators is not considered good for our lungs down here.  A clever phrase about ozone is "it’s good up there, bad down here".

Facts you should know about ozone generators:  

•  Despite bold claims as a germicide by ozone generators distributors, an EPA study indicated that ozone was ineffective in killing airborne fungi and molds, even at concentrations almost 100 times the recommended limit for human exposure!
• A test conducted by Consumer Reports magazine determined that stale tobacco smoke odor in a room treated with an ozone generator was not effectively reduced a day after treatment.
• The Air Resources Board of the California Environmental Protection Agency recommends that ozone generators not be used.

Factors for consideration when evaluating air cleaners:

• The types of airborne particle contaminants to be removed
• The amount of air that can be moved by the unit (amount of CFM)
• The volume of air in the room to be cleaned
• How much it costs to purchase and maintain the unit
• Avoid air cleaners that intentionally produce ozone 

Don’t be scared away from ESP air cleaners because they produce a tiny amount of ozone as a by-product.  Most people are lured into buying ozone concentrators because they believe it will remove odors.  A safer and more effective way to remove odor is with our innovative odor neutralizing cartridge.  The cartridge releases a field of aromatic molecules that attatch to the odor molecules and break them apart.  This feature is available in both the SE400 and SE800 models of our commercial air cleaners. 

Do you as a bar owner feel trapped between customers wanting to smoke in your establishment and employees complaining of negative health effects from the tobacco smoke?  Choosing between valuable employee’s and possibly alienating loyal customers can feel like a no-win situation.  One of the most contentious issues in American society today is second hand smoke, also referred to as Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS).  Do you ban smoking and risk losing business?  Or, do you allow smoking; thereby exposing your employee’s to dangerous smoke and potentially lose some non-smoking patrons?  Believe it or not, we can provide you with a solution that can make everyone happy. Although the big tobacco companies often fund studies to prove otherwise, all health experts agree that the dangers associated with second hand smoke create a major public health concern.  At its worst, second hand smoke can lead to increased risks of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke; at best, it worsens respiratory conditions and inflames asthma and allergies.  Second hand smoke is actually a mixture of almost 5,000 chemical compounds including more than 50 known carcinogens. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) produced a fact sheet on the respiratory health effects of passive smoking in 1993 and concluded it is responsible for thousands of lung cancer deaths in non-smokers and impairs the respiratory health of hundreds of thousands of children.  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association  (JAMA) an estimated 53,000 non-smokers in the United States die each year from secondhand smoke.  JAMA also reports that bar and restaurant workers are almost twice as likely to die from lung cancer as they would be in a smoke-free environment. 

Are your bartenders and servers the backbone of your business?  Keeping them healthy and happy is to your advantage for many reasons.  The financial costs of employees who are routinely exposed to second hand smoke can be enormous.  Lower productivity from smoke related illnesses and absenteeism will negatively affect your bottom line.  Also, if you are providing health insurance to your employee’s, you may wind up paying higher premiums thanks to second hand smoke in your bar.  The American Lung Association reports that the levels of secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants were found to be 2 to 6 times higher than in office workplaces. 

Bar owners are often caught in the crossfire between customers who want to smoke and those who prefer a smoke-free environment.  Being in the middle of this heated debate is an uncomfortable situation for bar owners.  However, by using a high quality commercial air cleaner, you can allow smokers to smoke while providing clean-smelling smoke-free air for non-smokers and your employees.

Just having a non-smoking section doesn’t work for non-smokers and doesn’t address the negative health effects  of your employees.  Even if your customers are not bothered by direct smoke, they can’t escape the tobacco smell.  You know how it is; you go out to a nightclub or bar and the next morning your clothes and hair smell like a used ashtray. 

So, what is the solution that can both safeguard your employee’s health and make your customers feel at home?  A high grade commercial air cleaner.  Not just any air purifier or smokeeater, but a high performance commercial air cleaner that features a high CFM, a washable pre-filter, electrostatic precipitator and an odor neutralizing cartridge.  For the best results in a smoky bar environment, use the SE400 or the SE800 from OscarAir, Inc.  Not only will these innovative units remove tobacco smoke and smell from the air;  they will also help you save on energy costs by cleaning and recycling your indoor air, eliminating the need to exhaust your air conditioned or heated air to the outside.  The SE400 and SE800 use the COANDA airflow effect to produce an airflow pattern that cleans the air more efficiently than commercial air cleaners without it.