When inhaled, ozone can cause serious damage to the lungs. It can lead to chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and throat irritation. Ozone can also worsen chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, and compromise the body's ability to fight respiratory infections. Even in small amounts, ozone can irritate the lungs and cause a variety of symptoms.
These may include throat irritation, cough, chest pain, and shortness of breath, as well as an increased risk of respiratory infections. Ozone has the ability to react with organic matter both inside and outside the body, which can lead to harmful health consequences. Everyone's susceptibility to ozone is different; healthy people and those with breathing difficulties can both experience respiratory problems due to ozone exposure. Exercising while exposed to ozone increases the amount of ozone inhaled and increases the risk of harmful respiratory effects.
Recovery from these effects may be possible after brief exposure to low levels of ozone, but higher levels or longer exposures can cause more severe health issues and make recovery less likely (U. S. EPA). GPS markets a Neddlepoint bipolar ionizer for air conditioning applications that claims to have high levels of negative and positive ions, but does not produce ozone emissions.
Despite this claim, conflicting data related to the ionizer still persists; as a result, I don't usually use the ionizer option. Instead, I professionally purchase and install IWAVE ionizer systems for my top and bottom air conditioning systems. Air ionizers are designed to help provide cleaner air by using ionized particles. These ionizers turn on for 8 hours every day; I have a Therapure TPP300D with UV+ ionizer that's on for 8 hours in my living room.
To prevent my roommate from smoking second and third hand, I now plan to keep the ionizer on for 30 to 40 minutes when no one is in the room and then turn it off before anyone comes in. Ionizer air purifiers are generally safe because they don't have enough energy to be harmful to your health. However, you should always make sure that your ionizer complies with the UL 2998 standard, which states that it does not produce ozone.