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OZONE as a "CURE" for TOXIC INDOOR MOLD
WHAT IS OZONE- O3
OZONE HAZARDS
TESTING FOR OZONE
OZONE TOXICITY
OZONE ODORS, MOLD, REFS
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The Hazards of Ozone & Ozone Gas Generators
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  • Ozone Gas Exposure Hazards - A Summary of Ozone Hazards Indoors
  • The hazards of ozone generators in buildings
  • The effects of using ozone in buildings to "purify air" or to "kill mold"
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This article gives an overview of the hazards associated with use of ozone indoors as a "mold remedy" or as an "air purifier". Ozone is widely promoted by ozone generating equipment companies and cleaning services for use in indoor building environments to deodorize, disinfect, "kill" mold, and for "general health". © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

OZONE HAZARDS - an Overview of the Hazards of Indoor Ozone Gas

Exposure to a level you can smell or exposure to ozone over long periods at levels greater than 0.05 ppm for 24 hours at a time is likely to be dangerous: [2], [3] Health hazards to humans and animals occur and can be severe at ozone levels used for indoor cleaning purposes.

At least some people can smell levels of ozone down to 0.05 ppm. This odor-detection level is already half-way to the recommended limit. If you are generating ozone indoors, even at "low" levels a problem may be present. People become desensitized to odors in a short time, perhaps 20 minutes. So if you do not smell it, the ozone level could still be hazardous.

Problems associated with ozone gas exposure include: [4]

  • Lung irritation and infection.
  • Breathing pain, coughing, wheezing, difficulty when exercising.
  • Permanent lung damage.
  • Aggravation of pre-existing asthma
  • Increased risk of lung illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia
  • Reduced breathing capacity

Use of ozone to "remove" or "kill" mold is ineffective, not recommended, and may be dangerous. Even if ozone were applied at a concentration and for a duration sufficient to "kill" every mold spore in a building (which is a very dubious claim), depending on the mold genera/species present there is a good chance that the process leaves toxic and allergenic particles in the building.

A "dead" (or non-viable) mold spore may not grow but it can still be a health concern. The operative proper word for mold remediation is "clean" or "remove", not "kill." In 1997, Dr. Karin K. Foarde of Research Triangle Institute, tested the ability of ozone to decontaminate fungi on building materials. At ozone levels of 9 ppm for a 23-hour exposure, ozone was found to be ineffective. [5] (Notice that this is 90-times higher than permitted ozone exposure. Exposure at these "deodorizing" levels would be considered extremely toxic to humans.)

This ozone treatment procedure is not recommended by the NY City Department of Health Guidelines on the Assessment and Remediation of Fungi in Indoor Environments. Jim Holland's article on Ozone as a "mold remediation step" is available online [6]and is a good summary of this point. Jack E. Peterson's 1987 excellent work "Health Hazards of some Gases" also addresses ozone hazards but it may be harder to find so I have quoted from it at the end of this paper.

Deodorization and cleaning claims are questionable: The apparent deodorization at high ozone levels may be simply the effect of a general desensitization to odors in the nose of building occupants rather than actual removal of an odor source. Ozone has been used following building fires to "reduce" smoke odors but even in this application it does not remove soot.

If, for example, there is a persistent odor source (such as a dead animal, flood damage, mold in building wall and ceiling cavities), no amount of "air treatment" of any kind will remove the problem source. There is no substitute for the actual physical effort to find and remove the offending source. Cleaning or removing the problem source is proper and effective. Professional use of ozone, at concentrations and durations which the applicator guarantees will not damage building materials or cause other outgassing, may be helpful as one step in a cleaning procedure where mold is not involved.

Ozone has been used successfully in water treatment and in disinfection of cooling towers and possibly wastewater. However it is not a durable, reliable treatment in that O3 molecules are highly reactive and volatile and thus treated substances do not remain so.

Use of ozone may oxidize and damage materials and increase odor levels:>[7] If ozone is no longer being generated in a building the presence of ozone will diminish quite rapidly. However, other odors may remain or may even be increased.

Because ozone is a very powerful oxidant, it may react with (oxidize) many materials found indoors, including carpets, carpet padding (especially rubber), other floor coverings, furniture, furniture cushion foam, and even surface paints and finishes. A common example is ozone-oxidized rubber carpet backing or padding. Weather research and other studies indicate that any material that will oxidize may be expected to react with ozone, especially cross-linked organic molecules, especially rubber.

Use of ozone may produce dangerous airborne byproducts: In other words, attempts to use high levels of ozone to "clean" or "deodorize" building interiors may in fact generate a second generation of unpleasant and even dangerous outgassing which may remain, persistent indoors, after the ozone "treatment." Examples include increased levels of indoor formaldehyde, formic acid and other acid gases, toluene, or other toxic chemicals.

Use of ozone may increase sub micron particulates: Attempts to use high levels of ozone to "clean" or "deodorize" building interiors may also increase the level of extremely small sub-micron particles which themselves can be severe respiratory irritants.

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OZONE as a "CURE" for TOXIC INDOOR MOLD
WHAT IS OZONE- O3
OZONE HAZARDS
TESTING FOR OZONE
OZONE TOXICITY
OZONE ODORS, MOLD, REFS

OZONE ODORS, MOLD, REFS: References on Ozone, Odors, and Mold

[1] Ozone exposure limits: NIOSH REL: C 0.1 ppm (0.2 mg/m3); OSHA PEL: TWA 0.1 ppm (0.2 mg/m3)

[2] Ozone and other contaminants discussed, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dardata/airmon/parametertextpage1.htm

[3] Indoor air, http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/indoor/indoor.htm New York State Department of Health

[4]Environmental Toxins, Yale New Haven Health, http://yalenewhavenhealth.org/library/healthguide/en-us/illnessconditions/topic.asp?hwid=support/zp3217

[5] Development of a Method for Measuring Single-Pass Bioaerosol Removal Efficiencies of a Room Air Cleaner, page 223 Karin K. Foarde, James T. Hanley, David S. Ensor, and Peter Roessler http://www.aaar.org/ast_abst/v30n0212.htm

Methodology to Perform Clean Air Delivery Rate Type Determinations with Microbiological Aerosols, page 235 Karin K. Foarde, Eric A. Myers, James T. Hanley, David S. Ensor, and Peter F. Roessler

[6]Ozone is not a substitute for mold removal and its reaction with building materials, but applied by an expert may help deodorize, a cleaning article by Jim Holland - http://www.icsmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,3035,118663,00.html

[7] Ozone as an oxidant, a few references from the Canadian Government

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/air_quality/publications/ground_level_ozone/part3/ch7_references.htm

Bogaty, H., Campbell K. S., and Appel, W. D. (1952). The oxidation of cellulose by ozone in small concentrations. Text. Res. J. 22: 81-83.

Bradley, C. E., and Haagen-Smit, A. J. (1951). The application of rubber in the quantitative determination of ozone. Rubber Chem. Technol. 24: 750-755.

Cass, G. R., Nazaroff, W. W., Tiller, C., and Whitmore, P. M. (1991). Protection of works of art from damage due to atmospheric ozone. Atmospheric Environment, 25A( 2): 441-451.

Druzik, J. R. (1985). Ozone: The Intractable Problem. Western Association for Art Conservation newsletter. Http://sul-server-2.stanford.edu/waac/wn/wn07/wn07-3/wn07-302.html (vol.7, no. 3)

[8] "Health Hazards of some Gases" Jack E. Peterson, P.E., CIH, Ph.D., May, 1987

Ozone Gas Hazards Description in our article "Effects of Toxic Gas Exposure to Ammonia, Arsine Arsenic Bromine Carbon Dioxide Carbon Monoxide Hydride Ozone & others"

Toxic Gas Exposure Hazards and Test Protocols including links to our toxic gas exposure screening and gas testing protocols.

Gases: Toxic gases, indoor exposure levels, testing, identification

  • A Toxic Gas Testing Plan: A Gas Sampling Plan for Residential and Commercial Buildings lists some of the toxic indoor gases for which we test, depending on the building complaint and building conditions
  • Gas Exposure Hazard Levels: for Toxic Gas Exposure to Ammonia, Arsine, Arsenic, Bromine, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Hydride, Ozone - allowable exposure levels and hazard levels
  • Carbon Dioxide Gas Toxicity hazard level, poisoning symptoms, & testing
  • Carbon Monoxide Gas Toxicity hazard levels, poisoning symptoms, & testing
  • Formaldehyde: US EPA. UFFI (Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation) was previously considered a hazard (formaldehyde outgassing). Subsequent research virtually closed concern regarding this material; however formaldehyde appears to remain a health concern for sensitive individuals.
  • Ozone Warnings - Use of Ozone as a "mold" remedy is ineffective and may be dangerous.
  • Sampling for gases in air such as VOC's, MVOC's, toxic chemicals, and combustion products.
    Unfortunately no single test or tool can detect all possible building contaminants. We use methods and equipment which can test for common contaminants. If the identity of a specific contaminant is known in advance we can also test for a very large number of specific contaminant gases in buildings.
    We use gas sampling equipment provided by the two most reliable companies in the world, Draeger-Safety's detector-tubes and Drager accuro bellows pump, the Gastec cylinder pump and detector-tube system produced by Gastec or Sensidyne, and we also use Sensidyne's Gilian air pump. For broad screening for combustibles and a number of other toxic gases and for leak tracing we also use Amprobe's Tif8850. All of these instruments, their applications, and sensitivities (minimum detectable limits) for specific gases are described in our Gas Sampling Plan online document.
  • Radon Gas U.S. EPA Radon level maps

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