Air Ionizer Log

[4peatssake]

Love your visuals 4ps!!

Thems tinkering fingers!

 

[Dan W]

You guys crack me up!

I'm tired of all these inaccuracies though, here's a real photo of Sleepwalker Dan:

 

[Dan W]

For some reason my ionizer reverted back to the usual "ionizer buzz/crackle", so I resumed using last night. I'll just post updates when I notice patterns, I can tell I'm probably not going to see big changes day-to-day.

 

[fabiomln]

people have mentioned everything from sleep changes to psychological changes, both in positive and negative directions

I have these experiences. Where we lived previously, the air was probably full of positive ions (the opposite of what an ionizer produces , which produces negative ions). I put one in every room and we felt immediately better, but when we used it at night we woke up with a headache. The same thing happened to a couple of friends (all of us were less than 45 years old). But when my father and the parents of these friends used it at night no one had a headache. I suppose that in the case of older people, lower oxygenation of the brain is compensated by the ionizer while in the younger ones will cause some consequences.
I also think it has some effect on the levels of cortisol in the morning, lowering them. This could produce a certain weakness.
When, two years ago, my wife and I changed our home, there was no need to use the ionizer during the day. Indeed, in this house my wife develops headaches during the day, in case we use it.

 

[Dan W]

Interesting stuff, fabiomin! I think another younger person also mentioned headache problems.

What was the the difference between the places you lived? Wind and humidity?

 

[fabiomln]

What was the the difference between the places you lived? Wind and humidity?

This is an interesting question, and requires a long and difficult answer.
Unfortunately there are few studies about habitat issues.
In Italy there is a researcher (Antonio Limardo) who has studied these phenomena.
You can find info, also in English, in this link http://www.geoprotex.it/, in particular by selecting
'Research and Development' and then 'main pollutants'.
Generally speacking, underground streams create friction and measurable electricity.
When I called him to do a physical enviromental investigation I was not aware of these phenomena.
When he told me that we were sleeping over an area of 'Geopathic Stress' I was very skeptical.
But I listened to his advice and moved the bed in an area free of radiation.
After a couple of days, my wife and I began to have dreams very, very vivid.
They were so intense and lively (often I went to war) that, jokingly, before going to bed we were wondering what movie would be screened that night.
This effect began to fade and eventually disappear in about 20 days.
I suppose that the body produced much melatonin at night to compensate for geopathic stress.
When stress disappeared, the body took a few days before to reduce the production and therefore, at that time, we made very intense dreams.
Although the situation was much better not all problems disappeared.
One reason (but I'm not sure there were not any other ones) is that the underground streams produce many positive ions, increasing the levels of serotonin.
I bought some ionizers and the situation improved a lot during the day (but at night ionizers were causing us headaches).
In the end we decided to buy another house, however, because the environment was insane.
Of course at that time I did a lot of research and found a very interesting book that I recommend to actually read, 'The Ion Effect' by Fred Soyka.
In the preface one can read:
"Fred Soyka knows about suffering. For twelve years he lived in Geneva, Switzerland, working for an American-based international company.
A good part of that time he was physically and emotional miserable, until a doctor suggested there was 'something about the electrical air' that might be making him ill and morose."

Some side readings that I suggest are those of Georges Lakhovsky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lakhovsky).

 

[Dan W]

Just a quick update: I've continued to use the ionizer at night. Accounting for normal variations, I don't think there's been any long-term psychological or physical changes. I also started putting it in my office during the day, although it might be ineffective there because I've been keeping the windows open.

Tonight I'm going to try hanging it above my bed rather than alongside it, hoping that more ions will reach me. We'll see what Sleepwalker Dan makes of that!

It's also possible that my humidifier is interfering with its output, but I'm not willing to go without it in the dry Colorado air.

 

[Dan W]

Another update: I don't think hanging the ionizer above my bed made any significant difference either. I'm probably going to get a followup serotonin test to see whether my serotonin has been influenced.

If my serotonin hasn't changed, I may try another ionizer, probably ComTech's IG-133A. I'm disappointed to be spending so much money on ionizers and serotonin tests, but it'll be worth it if I can fix my issues.

 

[Dan W]

I got my serotonin results back, and my levels were actually higher than before. Since I was pretty careful to keep other factors constant, I think the ionizer was ineffective at lowering my serotonin. So I've stopped using it, and I'm unsure whether to try another one.

If anyone would like to try an experiment of their own, I'd be happy to mail you my ionizer (the cheapo Purely Products one) if you're in the US. Be warned that you shouldn't stick your finger in the broken housing :)

 

[Swandattur]

I wonder if there are any inexpensive indoor waterfalls one could buy? Maybe that would be a good thing to invent. I mean an inexpensive kind. It could be like a recirculating shower.

 

[Dan W]

I wonder if there are any inexpensive indoor waterfalls one could buy? Maybe that would be a good thing to invent. I mean an inexpensive kind. It could be like a recirculating shower.

I've gone ahead and ordered the ComTech ionizer, and they're including a simple ion detector. I'll definitely be comparing ionizer output along with the "waterfall effect" (as best I can).

 

[Swandattur]

I'll be interested in that.

 

[Swandattur]

I don't know how this is supposed to work: http://www.worldmapsonline.com/blue_mar ... urtain.htm

 

[ilovethesea]

I have this one http://www.shopping.com/Honeywell-Honey ... /info?sb=1
How can I tell if it's good or not?

 

[Swandattur]

Dan Wich, Have you experimented with house plants for increased negative ions? My nose has been clearer since I moved more house plants into my room. Don't know if that's why, of course, but it might be.

 

[Peata]

What about a Himalayan Salt Lamp?

 

[Dan W]

I have no idea what to make of that shower curtain!

Have you experimented with house plants for increased negative ions? My nose has been clearer since I moved more house plants into my room. Don't know if that's why, of course, but it might be.

Huh, that's an interesting approach. I found a study of different plants and their negative ion output in different light conditions. It sounds like the output is pretty proportional to light exposure (I wonder how much incandescent lighting counts), and "Aloe Arborescens" had the highest output.

I doubt the detector is sensitive enough, but when it (and my ionizer) finally arrives, I'll try it on the my houseplants that are exposed to my ridiculous incandescent light setup

I have this one http://www.shopping.com/Honeywell-Honey ... /info?sb=1
How can I tell if it's good or not?

I'm having a hard time finding much information on that one. I'm a little biased towards having a specialized ionizer-only unit where you can clean (or sometimes replace) the emitter. Though maybe there's a way to do that on your Honeywell? The emitter on my Purely Products one is already a little gunked up.

What about a Himalayan Salt Lamp?

When I briefly looked into them, I got the impression they wouldn't have a lot of output. Which I guess is probably safer, at least...

 

[Swandattur]

I wonder if plants still give off negative ions during the nighttime after light exposure or only during light exposure. Yeah, if your detector does pick up something, it would be interesting to know.

 

[Dan W]

Swandattur, the ionizer and detector finally arrived. I can see why I wasn't getting results before, the new ionizer is much more powerful than the old.

Here's my results of using the detector on different sources, measuring the distance from the source to get the detector light blinking at about 0.3hz:

1. Purely Products ionizer: 1 inch.
2. ComTech ionizer: 18 inches.
3. Large patch of ~24 Lucky Bamboo stalks that had been exposed to bright light for hours: no light blinking at all, no matter the distance.
4. My lame attempt to test the Lenard/Waterfall Effect using my shower: no light blinking at all, no matter the distance.

I noticed that the ionizer performs significantly better far away from anything that might attract the ions (walls, objects, etc.), so I may need to redo my tests to be more fair.

 

[Swandattur]

Thanks for posting the results! That's interesting that the new ionizer works so much better. Hopefully it will make a difference health wise, too. What kind of detector do you have?