California Air Resources Board bans sale of some air purifiers

by Frank Hammes, IQAir North America

On September 27, 2007, The California Air Resources Board (CARB), a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency, banned the sale of air purifiers in the state of California that produce in excess of 50 ppb per UL 867 Section 32 testing. While I laud Assembly Bill 2276 as a step in the right direction -- it is important to note that this legislation is not strong enough. In fact, it will unfortunately likely lead consumers to believe erroneously that lesser amounts of ozone are indeed “safe.”

Nothing can be further from the truth.

I spoke with several members of CARB and the American Lung Association after the public hearing on AB 2276. They were all very candid about the fact that they were not satisfied with setting a legal limit for ozone production at 50 pbb, and they shared my concerns that this figure could be used by advertisers to create a false impression that this is a safe and healthful amount of ozone production. They would have liked to see a much lower figure, or an outright ban of devices that produced any amount of ozone, but they didn’t feel they could go below this limit until they could get the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lower their 50 ppb figure set for medical devices.

This is why I say that AB 2276 is a “step” in the right direction. It is an important first step, and hopefully it will increase awareness among consumers and retailers that there are safe and far more effective air cleaning options than ozone producing devices

But, now, ask yourself the question: Why were these devices banned?

There are many potentially harmful products that are NOT banned, and I think it is very important for readers of Floor Care Professional to examine why CARB felt this step was necessary to protect consumers. State Assemblywoman Fran Pavley summarized the sentiments of the officials I spoke with from CARB and the American Lung Association. She said, “State government needed to set up [its] own standards on air purifiers because many [marketers] indeed are deceiving the public.”

“Deceit” is the key word in understanding why CARB felt they needed to ban these devices to protect consumers. Many manufacturers of these devices have spent enormous financial resources advertising these products as safe and healthy -- and they have continued to do so despite the large body of scientific evidence that clearly shows that these devices are NOT safe, and they are NOT effective at cleaning the air.

In the 1960s, Congress called Big Tobacco in front of them much the same way ozone producing air cleaner manufacturers are being confronted today. For many years, despite much scientific evidence to the contrary, cigarette makers marketed their products to consumers as safe -- even healthy. They knew they were lying. They knew they were harming people’s health. They knew that they were addicting and killing people, but -- their motivation was to sell cigarettes. Tobacco is a multi-billion dollar industry, and the motivation to make money at the expense of consumer health led to enormous distortions and twisting of scientific information -- and open outright lies -- all with the motivation of continuing to keep these manufacturers making money selling an unhealthy and harmful product.

Take a look at the advertising phrases in the sample ads at right. These are cigarette ads taken from the 1950s and 1960s. They contain phrases like “No song and dance about medical claims. Old Gold’s specialty is to give you a treat instead of a treatment.” And “20,679 physicians say Luckies are less irritating.” “Your throat protection against irritation and cough.” “More doctors smoke Camels.” “It’s better to be fit than fat. Don’t eat between meals.” Scientific data was distorted in advertising to create the false impression that cigarette smoking was not just safe -- it was in fact healthy. What consumers learned the hard way, though, was that the information supporting the safe and healthy information about cigarettes was coming from the tobacco industry themselves -- and they knew they were lying.

I firmly believe that in 2007 consumers face the same situation with ozone producing air purifiers that consumers faced in 1960 with cigarettes. These devices are having scientific information twisted and distorted by the advertisers in order to sell these harmful products to consumers. Unfortunately, these lies have been told for so long and so effectively that many good and intelligent people believe there is a legitimate basis for their claims. This is why consumers need to be protected, and this legislation is a valuable first step to do just that.

Reprinted from Floor Care Professional, December 2007