Play Misty For Me
April 24, 2004 6:59 PM Subscribe
Science Question of the Day: Does anyone know how those home mist machines work? This site says something about negative ions, but it sounds sketchy. Can anyone give a good explanation of how it works? There is something electricity-related going on inside, but what exactly?
Ummm....OK, I (sometimes) work as a rewriter for a japanese negative Ion company. This stuff is gospel to my boss who seems to think it will cure just about everything, and that positive ions are the cause of pretty much any health problems. However, after reading and writing quite a bit on the subject, I am fairly unconvinced. I have a decent science background, and much of her explanation is as specious as this advertising. Most often the "negative ion lifestyle" has quite a bit more to do with nutrition, exercize and sensible living, with the benefits being atrributed, naturally, to all of the wonderful negative (the japanese call them 'minus') ion products. The evidence is mostly anecdotal, and the claims are often times outlandish (advertising is done a bit different here).
In my personal opinion (despite this being my job), negative ions are a mix of marketing and new age pseudoscience. I have taken part in "experiments" that involve growing various plants in standard and negative ion environments and seen very little difference between the statistics other than the number of ions in the area. The best explanations I have come across bury grains of scientific truth under heaps of confounding factors, constantly steering in the direction of these products. In most of the legitimate attempts to explain the theory, 'minus Ion' could easily be changed to 'pixie dust' without changing the message or meaning. There is a correlation between negative ion count and places in nature. You will find more negative ions near a waterfall in the middle of a forest than in a packed commuter train in rush hour. However, marketing would have you believe that this is the _key_ difference rather than just a difference that is not immediately perceptible, but easily measureable.
Negative ions are a bit of a fad here, I couldnt buy a regular fan, last year, they only came in negative ion brands, which is basically a fan with a green LED that has negative ion written on it, and a switch that turns the light on and off. People in my office use the humidifiers, and I personally dont like humidifiers at all, so I wouldnt say they make me feel anything but agitated and kind of sticky, but Im sure other people like them.
But, that being said, if you are in the market for some kind of humidifier and you like everything else about it, dont let the negative ion thing dissuade you, I dont think it will hurt, but when you see assertions like "The introduction of specific medicinal herb extracts (in liquid form) into the fountain will have a healing effect on patients with respiratory problems," you should be a little wary.
Hope that helps.
posted by lkc at 8:47 PM on April 24, 2004
In my personal opinion (despite this being my job), negative ions are a mix of marketing and new age pseudoscience. I have taken part in "experiments" that involve growing various plants in standard and negative ion environments and seen very little difference between the statistics other than the number of ions in the area. The best explanations I have come across bury grains of scientific truth under heaps of confounding factors, constantly steering in the direction of these products. In most of the legitimate attempts to explain the theory, 'minus Ion' could easily be changed to 'pixie dust' without changing the message or meaning. There is a correlation between negative ion count and places in nature. You will find more negative ions near a waterfall in the middle of a forest than in a packed commuter train in rush hour. However, marketing would have you believe that this is the _key_ difference rather than just a difference that is not immediately perceptible, but easily measureable.
Negative ions are a bit of a fad here, I couldnt buy a regular fan, last year, they only came in negative ion brands, which is basically a fan with a green LED that has negative ion written on it, and a switch that turns the light on and off. People in my office use the humidifiers, and I personally dont like humidifiers at all, so I wouldnt say they make me feel anything but agitated and kind of sticky, but Im sure other people like them.
But, that being said, if you are in the market for some kind of humidifier and you like everything else about it, dont let the negative ion thing dissuade you, I dont think it will hurt, but when you see assertions like "The introduction of specific medicinal herb extracts (in liquid form) into the fountain will have a healing effect on patients with respiratory problems," you should be a little wary.
Hope that helps.
posted by lkc at 8:47 PM on April 24, 2004
The negative ions are probably unrelated to the mist-making in that product. Lots of standard air filters use ionization, and that's what it sounds like that product is doing, in addition to the mist.
posted by whatnotever at 8:55 PM on April 24, 2004
posted by whatnotever at 8:55 PM on April 24, 2004
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses! I was asking because my roommate brought hers out for ironic ambience (it looks like the link I included, and I think it was a birthday present from her younger brother who picked it up at a department store) and we were looking at it trying to figure out how the thing worked. And now we know.
posted by statisticalpurposes at 8:56 PM on April 24, 2004
posted by statisticalpurposes at 8:56 PM on April 24, 2004
... so these "negative ion" things are supposed to create ozone? I thought ground-level ozone was bad for you.
posted by zsazsa at 9:24 PM on April 24, 2004
posted by zsazsa at 9:24 PM on April 24, 2004
Where does it say "these 'negative ion' things are supposed to create ozone"?
posted by jmd82 at 9:55 PM on April 24, 2004
posted by jmd82 at 9:55 PM on April 24, 2004
From the link in the original question: The Floral Angel Spa Mist Fountain transforms clean water into cool mist and ozone (negative ions) thanks to the ultrasonic technology
Of course, it could just be marketing baloney, which is what I'm guessing, since O2- isn't the same thing as O3 (ozone).
posted by zsazsa at 10:24 PM on April 24, 2004
Of course, it could just be marketing baloney, which is what I'm guessing, since O2- isn't the same thing as O3 (ozone).
posted by zsazsa at 10:24 PM on April 24, 2004
I don't get it because Ozone is neutral. Either that, or I'm thinking about it too hard.
posted by jmd82 at 10:40 PM on April 24, 2004
posted by jmd82 at 10:40 PM on April 24, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nicwolff at 8:37 PM on April 24, 2004