Killer Ozone? 70
Tufriast writes "This will make you think twice about an H2... The BBC News has reported that the death toll in U.S. cities might have a correlation to the ozone levels in them. The article mentions several major U.S. cities, and notices the upward trend in premature deaths as pollution levels rise. The results can also be found in the Journal of the American Medical Association."
Re:H_2 or O_3? (Score:4, Informative)
But hydrogen is what I thought at first glance too...
H2=Hummer2 (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Its not the H2s (Score:5, Informative)
How do you "burn" oxygen?
A properly designed ionic air filter does not produce any detectable ozone. There ARE some types of air cleaners that are designed specifically for ozone production - ozone is a powerful antiseptic and rids the air of all sorts of airborne bacteria and the like.
=Smidge=
Re:Its not the H2s (Score:4, Informative)
The black stuff is dust and dirt and other crud that used to be in the air. The devices work by ionizing particles and some gas molecules in the air and using an electric field to move them through the device. The "collection plates" are the positive electrode, and when the ionized air and dust contact with it, they lose their negative charge. Dust particles get stuck on the plate and are thus removed from the air.
Some ionized material makes it through, and this is what collects on your walls. Ever try rubbing a baloon on your shirt and sticking it to the wall? Same thing.
If properly designed, the voltages are not sufficient to generate significant ozone.
=Smidge=
Actually, the H2 is a problem (Score:3, Informative)
Ironically, many California cities restrict trucks over 6500 lbs GVW to truck routes; they wouldn't have to raise mileage standards to get those Hummers and Durangoes off the roads, all they'd have to do is enforce the truck restrictions they already have.
Mod parent down (Score:3, Informative)
If you want to be scientific, how about starting with actually reading the article you want to discredit? Your criticism is not only ill-founded, you don't even seem to know what claim it is you are trying to refute. Not exacly a shining example of scientific approach, are you?
The article only claimed that scientists suspect a link (impying it should be investigated), as any scientist would and should when such a correlation is discovered. It also says that the deaths were not violent, and that the correleated variations were on the scale of weeks, which rules out population changes. This would have taken most people less than a minute to read.
"Insightful" my ass.