Sharp Air Purifier Review – Efficacy of Plasmacluster Ion Technology
Tiny is mighty may well describe the little dynamo that lies at the heart of Plasmacluster Ion technology. Our Sharp air purifier review continues with a focus on the intense high concentration Plasmacluster Ion generator. Whilst it measures only 57mm by 28.5mm by 15.5mm, this generator is responsible for the reactive agents, without which the air purifier is worthless.
Synopsis of Plasmacluster Ion Technology
Positive and negative voltages are applied to discharge electrodes inside the Plasmacluster Ion generator to produce plasma. After solid, liquid and gas, the three commonly known states of matter, there is a fourth, plasma. Containing electrons that roam free from any bond to atoms and molecules, it exists as a partially ionized gaseous state. Disintegration of water molecules that permeate plasma lead to the creation of negative ions (oxygen) and positive ions (hydrogen). Other water molecules in the air cluster around the hydrogen ions and oxygen ions forming the distinctive and stable Plasmacluster Ions. Plasmacluster Ions colliding with pathogens serve as the catalyst to form hydroxyl radicals, which is extremely reactive and highly unstable. The volatile nature of hydroxyl radicals causes them to swiftly bond with hydrogen atoms on the outer membranes of pathogens. And the result; inactivated pathogens and a harmless by-product, water. An ideal solution! But is it fact or fiction?
Plasmacluster Ion – Scientific Fact or Science Fiction?
An honest Sharp air purifier review should not ignore the insecapable question – are Plasmacluster Ions fiction or fact? In common with many other nanotechnology products, Plasmacluster Ions are invisible to the human eye. Compounding the issue, the individuals who use air purifiers have no means to validate the claims. Individuals really have no alternative but to base their decisions on tests results of Plasmacluster Ion applications. Efficiency tests (in real-life locations) and efficacy tests (in laboratory conditions) are the 2 usual testing methods.
Anticipating these valid consumer concerns is testimony of the long track record of successes by Sharp. In this regard, Sharp has developed the art of academic marketing. This is a collaborative effort between Sharp and academia with the objective of reputable institutions testing and producing scientific data to confirm the claims made with regard to Plasmacluster Ions. From the joint efforts, scientific data generated provides a foundation for Sharp’s new products. Effectiveness has been further dissected into 2 separate categories, efficacy and efficiency. Between 2000 and July 2009, it focused on efficacy testing. Since then, there has been a shift towards efficiency testing in collaboration with business users of Plasmacluster Ion technology.
Plasmacluster Ion – Certification at Molecular Levels
Seeking further for the purpose of this Sharp air purifier review, we found that Sharp had gone beyond the typical efficacy and efficiency tests of the industry. Sharp announced on 17 November 2004 the scientific findings of Professor Gerhard Artmann of the Department of Cell Biophysics and Bioengineering, University of Applied Sciences, Germany. A leading authority in the field of cellular engineering, Professor Artmann through the use of an electron microscope confirmed that Plasmacluster Ions damaged more than 60 protein types on the cell membrane of pathogens leading to inactivation of the cells (both bacteria and viruses were tested).
A finding of great significance was that the pathogens’ cell DNA is not affected by Plasmacluster Ions which do not pass through the surface membrane. This is highlighted as a clear advantage over any air purification technology that relies on DNA destruction to inactivate pathogens. The danger to users of other air purification technologies being exposed to cancer from DNA damage was implied.
Plasmacluster Ion – Efficacy Tests
This current Sharp air purifier review summarizes t he efficacy tests conducted on various pathogens by Sharp and its partners. From September 2000 to July 2009, efficacy tests have proven that Plasmacluster Ions destroy 28 different kinds of harmful airborne pathogens. Of the virulent microorganisms, the most important ones are MRSA (notorious for causing mortifying infections in hospitalized patients), the terrifying SARS virus, the potentially deadly H5N1 avian flu virus and a variant of the H1N1 virus that surfaced in Mexico in 2009.
Other viruses which have been destroyed by Plasmacluster Ions include coxsackie virus (causes colds), feline coronavirus and polio virus. Also inactivated are staphylococcus, white staphylococcus, enterococcus, micrococcus, escherichia coli, serrata bacterium, candida, sarcina, pseudomonas and bacillus subtilis. A whole range of fungi (alternaria, aspergillus, cladosporium, mucor, penicillium, stachybotrys) are also effectively destroyed together with pollen, mites and other allergens.
The following organizations conducted tests on Plasmacluster Ion technology:
- Harvard School of Public Health, USA
- Retroscreen Virology, Ltd,London, UK
- Asthma Society of Canada
- University of Lübeck, Germany
- CT&T, Aachen University of Applied Science, Germany
- Seoul University, Korea
- Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China
- Ishikawa Health Service Association, Japan
- Kitasato Research Center of Environmental Sciences, Japan
- Kitasato Institute, Medical Center Hospital, Japan
- Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, Japan
Osaka City University Medical School conducted the last reported efficacy test that validated the inhibitory properties of Plasmacluster Ions on allergic reactions caused by mite allergens (mite feces and dead mites).
In summarizing our Sharp air purifier review on efficacy testing, we would highlight that a key factor is that they were conducted by organizations which have attained GLP (Good Laboratory Practices) status, an OECD guideline that attests the reliability of tests results produced. GLP status has to be renewed every 3 years. A critical piece of information yet it is often disregarded by the critics of air purification technologies and academic marketing. Yet another critical factor that is worthy of mention is that surely the work of a GLP laboratory can be scientifically peer reviewed. The venerated scientific peer review, we know, is the last missing link in the world of Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion technology and for that matter, all other air purification technologies!
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Tags: air purifier, ionic air purifier, Sharp air purifier review, sharp air purifiers