Sharp Air Purifier Review – The 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 will feature the ultra-high concentration Plasmacluster Ion generator. At only 57mm by 28.5mm by 15.5mm, it is small in relation to the air purifier but its role of producing the reactive agents is paramount.
Plasmacluster Ion Technology Synopsis
Positive and negative voltages are applied to discharge electrodes inside the Plasmacluster Ion generator to produce plasma. Plasma is recognized as the 4th state of matter after liquid, gas, solid. Containing electrons that roam free from any bond to atoms and molecules, it exists as a partially ionized gaseous state. The disintegration of naturally occurring water molecules in the plasma lead to the formation of negative oxygen ions and positive hydrogen ions. Plasmacluster Ions, stable and distinguishable, are created when water molecules in the room air surround the oxygen ions and hydrogen ions in clusters. Upon contact with the surfaces of pathogens, Plasmacluster Ions are transformed into hydroxyl radicals which are highly reactive but unstable. This characteristic causes the hydroxyl radical to combine with hydrogen atoms on the surface membrane of the pathogen. And the result; inactivated pathogens and a harmless by-product, water. Simply perfect! But is it real or imaginary?
Plasmacluster Ion – Scientific Fact or Fiction?
A genuine Sharp air purifier review must not set aside a critical point – are Plasmacluster Ions science fiction or scientific fact? As with many other products emerging from the field of nanotechnology, Plasmacluster Ions are invisible to the naked eye. Making matters tricky for individuals who rely on air purifiers is the inability to test the validity of the claims. Individuals really have no alternative but to base their decisions on tests results of Plasmacluster Ion applications. There are 2 ways to do this, in the real world or efficiency testing or in the laboratory or efficacy testing.
Sharp, as an established corporation with a successful track record has anticipated these concerns. It has developed to an art what they term as 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. Scientific data produced by academia becomes the basis for introducing new products by Sharp. Sharp has fine-tuned the definition of effectiveness into efficacy and efficiency. Between 2000 and July 2009, it focused on efficacy testing. Taking centrestage now is efficiency testing which is carried out at end user locations where Plasmacluster Ion technology is employed.
Plasmacluster Ion – Verification at Atomic Levels
Digging deeper for this Sharp air purifier review, we noted that Sharp is going all out in the industry by leading in efficacy and efficiency testing. 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. Cellular engineering expert Professor Artmann used an electron microscope to demonstrate that Plasmacluster Ions destroyed at least 60 types of proteins on the cell membranes of bacteria and viruses.
A test result with important implications was that the core DNA of pathogens were unaffected by Plasmacluster Ions as these do not perforate the cell membrane. Unlike other competing air purifiers which rely on DNA destruction to be effective, an advantage is claimed here by Plasmacluster Ions technology. Clearly, the danger of cancer from DNA destruction is also being alluded to with regard to other air purification technologies .
Plasmacluster Ion – Efficacy Tests
This current Sharp air purifier review puts on one page the efficacy tests on various pathogens performed by organizations engaged by Sharp. The efficacy of Plasmacluster Ions has been established through tests held from September 2000 to July 2009 which showed that 28 types of virulent microorganisms were totally destroyed. 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.
The polio virus and the coxsackie virus which causes the common cold are also destroyed by Plasmacluster Ions. Equally susceptible have been bacteria like serrata bacterium, enterococcus, staphylococcus, sarcina, micrococcus, bacillus subtilis, pseudomonas, escherichia coli, white staphylococcus and candida. A whole variety of fungi (alternaria, stachybotrys, aspergillus, penicillium, cladosporium, mucor), pollen, allergens and mites are also effectively eliminated.
The organizations, some of which conducted multiple tests, were:
- Asthma Society of Canada
- University of Lübeck, Germany
- CT&T, Aachen University of Applied Science, Germany
- Harvard School of Public Health, USA
- Retroscreen Virology, Ltd., London, UK
- Seoul University, Korea
- Ishikawa Health Service Association, Japan
- Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, Japan
- Kitasato Research Center of Environmental Sciences, Japan
- Kitasato Institute, Medical Center Hospital, Japan
- Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China
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).
To summarize our Sharp air purifier review concerning efficacy testing, we note the importance of the GLP (Good Laboratory Practices), an OECD standard that lends weight to test results, status of the testing organizations. GLP status has to be renewed every 3 years. This is an important factor that is often ignored by critics of air purification technologies and academic marketing. Curiously, the fact that test data generated by a GLP laboratory can be readily peer reviewed by fellow scientists is also disregarded. As we know, the scientific peer review is the missing final jigsaw piece in the puzzle of all air purification technologies, Plasmacluster Ion technology included!
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