Small at heart but enormous in potential impact best describes Plasmacluster Ion technology which runs on a tiny dynamo. Our Sharp air purifier review zeroes in on the enriched 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.
Overview of Plasmacluster Ion Technology
Plasma is formed upon delivery of negative and positive voltages to the discharge electrodes in the Plasmacluster Ion generator. The fourth state of matter, plasma now ranks with the three more well-known states of liquid, gas, solid. A partly ionized gas-like state, it contains free electrons that are not bound to a molecule or atom. Disintegration of water molecules that permeate plasma lead to the creation of negative ions (oxygen) and positive ions (hydrogen). Separately, water molecules in the air cluster around the oxygen and hydrogen ions, resulting in the distinctively stable Plasmacluster Ions being created. Any contact by Plasmacluster Ions with pathogens leads to the instantaneous formation of the highly unstable and reactive hydroxyl radical. These characteristics cause the hydroxyl radical to bond readily with hydrogen atoms on pathogen surface membranes. The outcome; harmless water as a by-product and dead pathogens. A perfect solution! But is it fact or fiction?
Plasmacluster Ion – Scientific Fact or Science Fiction?
A serious Sharp air purifier review must resolve a fundamental doubt – are Plasmacluster Ions fact or fiction? In common with many other nanotechnology products, Plasmacluster Ions are invisible to the human 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.
An established corporate player with a long track record of successes, Sharp has anticipated these concerns. For this purpose, Sharp introduced and continues to promote the concept 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. The definition of effectiveness has been fine-tuned into efficacy and efficiency. Between 2000 and July 2009, it focused on efficacy testing. Attention is now focused on efficiency testing, performed with the cooperation of Plasmacluster Ion technology end users.
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. On 17 November 2004, Sharp announced the results of studies by Professor Gerhard Artmann of the Department of Cell Biophysics and Bioengineering, University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Through the use of an electron microscope, Professor Artmann (a cellular engineering expert) verified that Plasmacluster Ions damaged more than 60 proteins on the surface cell membranes of pathogens leading to inactivation of both viruses and bacteria.
A very significant result indicated that Plasmacluster Ions will not pierce the pathogens' cell membranes to reach the core cell DNA. As DNA destruction is not relied upon to inactivate pathogens, unlike some other competing air purification technologies, a clear advantage is claimed. 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 highlights the efficacy tests that Sharp has conducted, together with several organizations, on various pathogens. Conducted over the years from September 2000 to July 2009, the tests have proven that Plasmacluster Ions are effective in removing 28 kinds of harmful airborne microorganisms. It is noteworthy that the list of 28 includes such notoriously harmful pathgoens like MRSA, a bacterium that infects hospitalized patients, and viruses like the SARS virus, the H5N1 avian flu virus and the H1N1 virus that caused many fatalities in Mexico in 2009.
Among other viruses inactivated by Plasmacluster Ions are the polio virus, the coxsackie virus that afflicts one with the common cold and the feline coronavirus which infects cats. Also destroyed are bacteria like enterococcus, staphylococcus, white staphylococcus, micrococcus, serrata bacterium, sarcina, bacillus subtilis, escherichia coli, candida and pseudomonas. Mites, allergens and pollen have also been effectively dealt with together with fungi like cladosporium, penicillium, stachybotrys, alternaria, mucor and aspergillus.
The following organizations conducted tests on Plasmacluster Ion technology:
- 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
The last reported efficacy test was reported on 27 July 2009 involving the Osaka City University Medical School validating the inhibitory power of Plasmacluster Ions on allergic reactions caused by mite allergens or mite dust (mite feces and dead mites).
In concluding 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. An important factor, yet this fact is often given no weight by critics of academic marketing and air purification technologies. Yet another overlooked fact is the possibility of scientifically peer reviewing the test results of a GLP laboratory. The much-vaunted scientific peer review is the last frontier to be conquered before the world will change its perceptions of the air purification industry and with it, Sharp's Plasmacluster Ion technology!
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