INDOOR OZONE AND ELECTRONIC AIR CLEANERS

Plate and wire type Electronic Air Cleaners (EAC) are frequently found in Canadian houses. They are often sold based on their potential to improve respiratory health. EAC's produce ozone, a respiratory irritant, during operation. This project involved experiments with an airhandler and EAC in one house under varying air-change and EAC air-flow conditions. Ozone, EAC device airflow and weather data were measured continuously. Indoor ozone levels were predicted for a variety of air-change rates and outside ozone levels. The continuous operation of the EAC in these experiments could raise indoor ozone levels by up to 9 ppb over that which would be expected without EAC operation. The proposed outdoor guidelines by the Canadian Federal-Provincial Working Group on Air Quality range from 20 to 25 ppb, depending upon susceptibility. An addition of 9 ppb will push many houses to indoor ozone levels higher than proposed outdoor guidelines.