canklecat

I'd be curious to read long term reviews from actual users. Ozone and UV will eventually break down many materials, especially synthetics and adhesives. Might be safe for occasional use. But I'd keep any ozone generator away from the main living quarters and any electronics. Ozone will break down many plastics used in household electronics -- televisions, cell phones, computers, etc.

A few years ago an elderly neighbor who smoked heavily asked me to adjust her TV. I heard some crackling from inside the set and turn it to check the back. The plastic chassis crumbled in my hands. Years of smoke residue accumulated inside the TV and it began spewing ozone, which in turn weakened the plastic on the TV itself and any nearby plastic, including the outlet plate it was plugged into.

I gave her one of my older TVs, figuring it would outlive her at the rate she smoked, considering her age. She was here only another year before she went to a nursing home.

Back in the 1980s-'90s, my grandparents bought a bunch of household "ion" air purifiers and ozone generators, which they'd heard or read were supposed to be good for the indoor atmosphere. Research shows ozone concentrated enough to purify the air is dangerous to humans. My granddad in particular suffered from COPD and these bogus air cleaners probably hastened his demise. When I finally pulled them out the plastic housings of the air filters themselves were yellowed, cracked and misshapen, as were any plastics nearby -- outlet and switch plates, a coffee maker, radios, etc.

Ozone and UV "purifiers" might be effective on shoes and other objects, but I'd keep them far away from living quarters -- no closer than a garage or outdoor storage shed -- and limit their use on items that weren't specifically made of ozone and UV resistant materials.

I worked for OSHA around the time federal regulatory agencies were adopted regs on ozone. Turned out some of our own office machines, including laser jet printers, didn't meet our own agency standards. We had to discard the recently purchased machines that had replaced our older dot matrix and daisy wheel printers.