Air pollution comes from many sources: industry, farms, trucks and more. But some say rapid urban growth is the new bad boy of smog and one of the last unregulated polluters. The Bakersfield Californian examines sprawl's impact on Kern's dirty air in this special report.

Full of hot air: Some room 'fresheners' actually add to smog problem

Posted: Saturday June 14, 2003, 11:59:00 PM
Last updated: Saturday June 14, 2003, 09:21:13 PM

As bad as the San Joaquin Valley's smog is, it may be tempting to run out and buy a plug-in air cleaner for the bedroom or living room. But unless you buy carefully, you may end up with a device that actually makes the valley's air worse and threatens your health.

Many of these small appliances produce ozone, a key ingredient in the valley's smog problem.

It aggravates asthma, destroys lung tissue, causes coughing, chest pain and shortness of breath.

In 1997 Canada issued a health warning urging citizens not to buy these devices, and later outlawed them. The California Air Resources Board, California Department of Health Services and the State of Alaska have also issued warnings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that these appliances can boost indoor ozone levels 10 times beyond federal health standards.

If you already own an ozone generator, health experts say you should stop using it. If you're shopping for an air cleaner, avoid anything that advertises ozonation, ionization or electrostatic precipitation (ESP), which may produce ozone as a byproduct. Ozone generators also may be advertised as producing "trivalent" oxygen, "activated" oxygen, "allotropic" oxygen, "saturated" oxygen, "energized" oxygen, "superoxygen," or "mountain-fresh air."

The safest and most effective air cleaners are those that simply filter air. By using fans to suck or blow air through a series of fine filters, these devices can remove up to 95 percent of particle contaminants. Filters that include carbon or charcoal may also remove some polluting gases, though their effectiveness may be limited.

For more information:

California Air Resources Board air cleaner report
   http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/acdsumm.htm

Canadian government air cleaner health warning
   http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/1999/99_62e.htm

American Lung Association air cleaner report
   http://www2.lungusa.org/pub/cleaners/air_clean_toc.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air cleaner report
   http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html