Fresh, clean and crisp air improves your health, energy and mood. It was discovered that negative ions balance serotonin in the body, which explains why people tend to feel more alert, energized and invigorated in the presense of negative ions.

If you can't go to the sea or to the mountains, you can at least create an "oceanic or mountain like atmosphere" in your living rooms.

If the space in your house permits, you can buy pots of plants and put them around the house. Plants releases oxygen and negative ions into the air and remove toxic substances such as benzene, formaldehyde and ammonia. Trees and plants are nature's way of purifying the air.

However, if having pots of plants is NOT practical in your homes, there are other alternatives. Technological advances in science has allowed to us to experience the fresh sea air or the invigorating mountain air right in our very homes !

Air Purifiers are negative-ion generators that creates more negative ions than plants. They're very effective in removing dirt, soot, mold and bacterias. The negative ions will caused these substances to clump together and fall to the floor where they can be vacuumed away.

Some of air purifiers will also emit ozone between 0.02 - 0.04 ppm (parts per million). Ozone (O³) is "tri-atom" oxygen (i.e. 3 atoms of oxygen instead of the usual O²). It is the second most powerful oxidant in existance and is extremely effective in neutralizing (oxidizing) the particles it reacts with. As a result, viruses, bacterias, chemical fumes, gasses, will be neutralized and longer toxic.

These air purifiers are quiet and small and can be used in your home to create a healthy and refreshing living atmosphere.

(note: According to the EPA, indoor air pollution is considered one of America's #1 environmental health issues. The air inside most homes is 4 to 5 times more polluted than the air outside. Click here for more details)

Yes there are. The benefits of exposure to relatively high concentrations of negative ions have been well documented over decades. Dozens of studies published in respected journals have concluded that negative ions does have a profound beneficial effect on both the mind and body.

Much of the earlier researches on negative ions were naturally conducted on animals. One of the more famous one was published in the journal "Psychophysiology" (1965) - "Behavioral Effects of Ionized Air on Rats".

In this study, the effects of negatively ionized air on the mental functioning of rats was tested. Researchers Duffee and Koontz reported on page 358 of the journal: "the water-maze performance improved by 350%," showing a dramatic improvement in cognitive functioning."

In April of 1978, a study was conducted at the University of Surrey, England to find out if negative ions would also improve the cognitive functions of human as well. It was published in the science journal "Ergonomics" - in an article entitled, "Air Ions and Human Performance". The results were encouraging.

"Studied the effects of artificial negative or positive ionization of the air on the performance of psychomotor tasks with 45 18-26 year-old healthy males... Three testing environments were used: natural, negative, and positive ionizations. Negative ionization was associated with a significant increment in performance as compared to controls." (ref: page 273)

October 1981, an article entitled "The Influence of Negative Air Ions on Human Performance and Mood" appeared in the respected journal, Human Factors.

"44 female and 12 male 17-61 year olds were tested either in a normal-ion environment (control group) or in a predominantly negative ion environment (experimental group). After a 15-minute acclimation period, subjects asserted their psychological state and completed 2 performance tasks. Results indicate that subjects had faster reaction times and reported feeling significantly more energetic under negative-air-ion conditions that under normal-air conditions." (ref: abstract, page 633)

December 1981, the "Journal of Environmental Psychology" published a study conducted at California State University, Sacramento entitled, "The Influence of Air Ions, Temperature, and Humidity on Subjective Wellbeing and Comfort".

"106 employees kept daily assessment records of their office environment and health over a 12-week period. Temperatures about 23 degrees Celsius were associated with increased sensations of stuffiness, discomfort, and unpleasantness, but appeared to produce a decrease in the number of complaints of headaches. The office environment was found to be depleted of small air ions. The introduction of a negative ion generator increased the subjective rating of alertness, atmospheric freshness, and environmental and personal warmth. Ions reduced the complaint rate for headache by 50% and significantly reduced the number of complaints of nausea and dizziness." (ref: abstract, page 279)

August 1982, a prominent medical journal "Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine" published a double-blind study "Subjective Response to Negative Air Ion Exposure." conducted at the Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.)

"Procedure: One group of subjects served as controls and was confined to the test chamber for a 6 hour period under air ion conditions typical of an energy efficient building. The second group was similarly confined, but ion generators began operating 2 hours before occupancy and continued all 6 hours of confinement. Generators were masked for all indications of operation, and were also present under control conditions but not turned on. Data from both groups were collected under double-blind conditions." "Subjective perceptions of psychological state, using individual 'normalcy' as standard, reflected significant differences between control and negative ion exposure groups. Prominent perceptions reported were reductions in irritability, depression, and tenseness, and increases in calmness and stimulation associated with ion exposure. For psychological state, negative ion exposure appeared associated with feeling better about self, less sensitive, and more responsive or innervated [energized]." (ref: page 822,823 of the journal)

In 1984, the "Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology" published a study entitled "Negative Air Ionization Improves Memory and Attention in Learning-Disabled and Mentally Retarded Children."

The effectiveness of negative ions on mental performance was tested by researching the power of negative ions to improve the cognitive abilities of mentally handicapped children, as well as the abilities of normal children. Fourth graders were divided into three groups: normal, learning-disabled, and mildly mentally retarded. The results were encouraging.

"Half in each group were assigned randomly to an unmodified air-placebo condition under double-blind testing procedures. All of the children breathing negatively ionized air were superior in incidental memory...The action of negative ions on the neurotransmitter, serotonin, may be the mechanism by which negative ions produce such behavioral effects." "Table I shows enhanced performance on the order of 8.4% for the normals, 23.6% for the learning-disabled, and 54.8% for the mildly retarded." (ref: page 353, 358 of the journal)

February 1995, "Journal of Alternative and Comparative Medicine", (Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.) published a study on SAD.

Two researchers, Dr. Michael Terman (head of Columbia's Winter depression department) and Dr. Jiuan Su Terman conducted a study of the impact of negative ion therapy on people suffering from seasonal affective disorder (winter depression).

Researchers believe that the biology of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is very similar to that of "all-year" depression, hence, the same antidepressant drugs (such as Prozac) are used to treat both.

The double blind study divided clinically depressed subjects into two groups. Both groups were exposed to negative ions for a period 20 days. The subjects in the first group were treated for 30 minutes per day with a low density ion generator (10,000 ions/cubic centimeter). Subjects in the second group were treated for 30 minutes per day with a high density ion generator (2,700,000 ions/cubic centimeter). The remission or "cure" criterion used was a 50% or greater reduction in symptom frequency and severity using the SAD version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.

The results of this study amazed the medical community: While a low density negative ion generator provided little benefit, a high density negative ion generator gave relief from depression comparable to that given by Prozac and other antidepressants, without drug side effects.

According to Dr. Arnot, "If the blustery winds of winter blowing across the nation this week are bringing you down, there's good reason. Researchers now believe that the ill winds strip away highly charged subatomic particles called Negative Ions from the air around us, contributing to a seasonal form of depression. Here's why. Level of brain chemical responsible for mood, called serotonin, are often lower in cases of season depression. Serotonin levels can be elevated by increased exposure to light or by antidepressants like Prozac. Researchers say negative ions may also increase brain levels of serotonin. A study in the current "Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine" concluded that 58 percent of patients treated with high-density negative ions had significant relief of their symptoms, almost identical to the number improved with drugs, but without drug side effects. The whole idea of using negative ions as a legitimate medical treatment may seem just a little bit odd. But while many doctors are still highly skeptical about alternative medicines, more and more Americans are turning to them because they haven't found the satisfaction they want from mainstream medicine. (src: summary from CBS News transcript, 2/14/95 6:30-7:00 PM, Connie Chung)

There is much research supporting the effectiveness of negative ions on mood, energy, and performance. But, you are probably wondering what negative ions are, and how they benefit us.

Spring 1991, an article entitled "Ions and Consciousness" was published in the magazine, "Whole Self":

Research on ions began in the 1950s with Dr. Albert Kreuger, professor emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley, and Dr. Felix Sulman, professor of pharmacology at the Hebrew University in Israel." "Dr. Kreuger excited the scientific world when he discovered ions to be biologically active, stimulated production of the powerful chemical serotonin, 5-HT. Serotonin is a very active neuro-hormone which causes profound neural, glandular, and digestive effects throughout the body." "Dr. Sulman corroborated Kreuger's findings while studying positive ion victims of the hot, dry Sharav winds in Jerusalem. He demonstrated three effects of positive ion excess: irritation and tension, exhaustion, and hyperthyroid response. Most of these conditions, along with symptoms of depression, anxiety, headaches, and low-energy physical and mental functions, were shown to be alleviated or totally eliminated by increasing the negative ion count in the air." "While ionization of the air is mandatory in many European and Russian hospitals and workplaces, it has only recently come to light in our country with the growing problem of toxic air in our urban environments."