[Greenbuilding] Hydroxyl radical air cleaning devices

[Reibstein, Rick (ENV)]

Thank you - just got off the phone with California Air Resources Board.  They are in the middle of a study of these units which will take a couple of years.  The representative I spoke to said that like ozone these may be effective with odor control if they are cranked up to really high levels - but that makes them quite dangerous to people.  CA has an exemption in their law for use of ozone-generating air cleaners in hotels, where odor control is critical, but it is required to have no one around when you do it.  These are probably similar.  They have a similar mechanism - a highly reactive airborne molecule.  CARB does not police claims of killing bacteria, viruses but has made referrals to EPA and FDA.  Some of the companies selling these products may not realize they need to have FIFRA registration when they make pesticidal claims, and to have FDA approval for medical technologies.  They may also not realize what big fines they could get.

That's a good point you make about arsenic!

From: Greenbuilding [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Don Lush
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2012 12:10 PM
To: 'Green Building'
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Hydroxyl radical air cleaning devices

Rick- I would be very suspicious of the claims as you watch the video. Specifically the hydroxyl radicals are claimed to

1.       Be safe gentle and effective - they are anything but safe and gentle - they are extremely reactive oxidizing agents ( making other oxidizers like chlorine gas seem gentle) Their only saving grace from a health perspective is that they are so reactive that they do not last long enough to enter lung tissue reacting with anything they come in contact with.

2.       The video claims that they destroy things like arsenic -  making claims like destroying elements such as arsenic may sound good but this would be transmutation  and as far as I know only happens through natural radioactive decay or in nuclear reactions.

3.       They claim the reaction byproducts are safe- I would ask for proof of this as it is common for reaction by products to be more toxic than the parent compound


It is appropriate to be suspicious and cautious

Don

From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Reibstein, Rick (ENV)
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 11:22 AM
To: Green Building
Subject: [Greenbuilding] Hydroxyl radical air cleaning devices

There are companies selling units that claim to clean the air through the generation of hydroxyl ions.  I believe they are sometimes termed photocatalytic oxidation air cleaners.  They are used for odor removal but also claims are being made that they destroy mold, bacteria, viruses.  Is anyone aware of whether FIFRA registration has been obtained (or is necessary, I would think it would be, if you make claims of killing pests), or if reliable assessments have been performed of these devices, or if the OH ions are indeed safe and effective?  See, for example, http://www.hgiind.com/

Any leads appreciated.

Rick Reibstein
Manager, Outreach and Policy
Office of Technical Assistance and Technology
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
100 Cambridge St., 9th Floor
Boston, MA 02114
617 626 1062


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20121003/527db573/attachment.html>