I volunteer on a board of a local non-profit that is considering spending a fairly large amount of money on a commercial scale ionizer along with some other upgrades to the HVAC system. The organization is being told this is a good way to help sanitize the air and keep people healthy. I didn't see the sales pitch, but from what I've gathered, the big selling point is that these work at reducing the spread of disease (and the example given is that hospitals use them, so they must be good right?). Anybody have experience with these things or better yet, the science behind them?
My understanding is that ionizers basically create negatively charged particles which attract other particles, and the weight of the combined particles cause them to fall to the ground. Thus, the theory goes, you're breathing in fewer harmful particles, including dust, diseases, etc. It seems to me that really all you're doing is getting this crud to stick to the surfaces of everything in the building and requiring a lot of cleaning. In the case of Covid, an ionizer does seem like it could be helpful because covid is primarily transmitted via air and is unlikely to be picked up if it falls on top of your desk. But it wouldn't help for plenty of other diseases that are transmitted by touch/contact.
Anyway, pretty much everybody on the board seems sold on the idea but I'm skeptical and could use some good resources for/against if anybody has a good link. All of the links I've found for ionizers are from companies that sell them, while I've found plenty of other links that say they don't really do much. But none of the links come from particularly authoritative sources so I'm curious what info the FBG crew has.
My understanding is that ionizers basically create negatively charged particles which attract other particles, and the weight of the combined particles cause them to fall to the ground. Thus, the theory goes, you're breathing in fewer harmful particles, including dust, diseases, etc. It seems to me that really all you're doing is getting this crud to stick to the surfaces of everything in the building and requiring a lot of cleaning. In the case of Covid, an ionizer does seem like it could be helpful because covid is primarily transmitted via air and is unlikely to be picked up if it falls on top of your desk. But it wouldn't help for plenty of other diseases that are transmitted by touch/contact.
Anyway, pretty much everybody on the board seems sold on the idea but I'm skeptical and could use some good resources for/against if anybody has a good link. All of the links I've found for ionizers are from companies that sell them, while I've found plenty of other links that say they don't really do much. But none of the links come from particularly authoritative sources so I'm curious what info the FBG crew has.
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