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Ai 臭氧水生成器 |
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1. 永遠免耗材
2. 使用安心
3. 無二次污染
4. 殺菌力強
5. 安裝簡易
6. 使用方便
7. 不佔空間
8. 經濟性強
9. 省電效率高
10. 品質保證
11. 健康無價
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相關資訊 > 空氣中負離子與健康
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AIR IONS AND HEALTH
By ALBERT P. KRUGER AND
DAVID S. SOBEL |
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In places where mountains are situated to the south, the south winds
that blow are parching and unhealthy; where the mountains are
situated in the north, their northern winds occasion disorders and
sickness...The winds which must pass over mountains to reach cities
do not only dry, but also disturb the air which we breathe and the
bodies of men, so as to engender diseases.
Hippocrates, Regimen II, Chapters 37-38
The reactions between water, land and air during the long slow
physical evolution of our planet have greatly affected the course of
biological evolution. To a very considerable extent, this interplay
is responsible for the emergence of man - a singular product of
evolution - and man, in an extremely brief span of time, through his
genius for blindly manipulating natural resources, has attained the
unique capacity to alter his total environment. While we have begun
to express serious concern for the grim consequences of our role as
spoilers in disturbing ecological balances in general, our interest
is most avidly focused upon those facets of man-engendered
pollution, which pose the most immediate and direct danger to us.
We live in an ocean of air and each of us is inexorably required to
breathe in at least ten thousand liters of air every twenty-four
hours just to maintain life in our bodies. Since we are utterly
dependent upon the physical and chemical properties of this air, it
isn't surprising that we are now deeply immersed in exploring all
atmospheric parameters. Characteristically, most of our efforts are
devoted to the detection and control of those toxic particulate and
gases contributed to the ambient air by industry and by the
multitude of anthropocentric activities which require the combustion
of fuel. Their threat to life is pressing and it is obvious that
measures for their abatement must be developed in the immediate
future. Other, more subtle atmospheric changes are in progress
which, because they are less conspicuous, tend to be put aside for
future consideration. Among these one would have to list those
phenomena involving small air ions.
Very shortly after the existence of atmospheric electricity was
demonstrated by Franklin [1] and by d'Ailbard [2] in the mid 1700's,
several natural philosophers ascribed to it a variety of biological
effects. For example, Father Giambattista Beccaria [3] in 1775
reported that "it appears manifest that nature makes extensive use
of the atmospheric electricity for promoting vegetation" In this he
was supported by Abbe Nollet [4] and Abbe Bertholon [5]. Abbe
Bertholon [6] in addition concluded that the course of various
diseases of man was influenced by atmospheric electricity. I 1899,
Elster and Geitel [7] and J J Thompson [8] independently proved that
atmospheric electricity depends upon the existence of gaseous ions
in the air. It then became possible to develop generators for
producing air ions and equipment for determining their numbers in
the air. Using these technical aids, a vast amount of
experimentation was undertaken to define the physical and biological
properties of air ions.
There are ions in the air around us all the time, but changes in
their concentration or in the ratio of positively to negatively
charged molecules can have marked biological effects on plants and
animals. Indeed, ion depletion and charge imbalance may play a
significant role in a wide range of human ailments including
respiratory infection in office workers and the malaise caused by
weather conditions such as the khamsin winds of the near East.
Further, artificially generated air ions may prove valuable as a
therapeutic modality in the treatment of burns, reparatory
disorders, stomach ulcers nd nervous disorders.
Air ion formation begins when enough energy acts on a gaseous
molecule to eject an electron. Most of this energy comes from
radioactive substances in Earth's crust and some from the shearing
forces of water droplets in waterfalls (Lenard effect) or the
friction which develops when great volumes of air move rapidly over
a land mass (for example, the foehn, sharav and Santa Anna winds) or
from cosmic rays. The displaced electron attaches itself to an
adjacent molecule that becomes a negative ion, the original molecule
then becoming a positive ion. Molecular collisions transfer the
charge, so that positive charges come to reside on molecules with
the lowest ionization potential, while electrons are attracted to
the species of greatest stability. Next, small numbers of molecules
of water vapor, hydrogen and oxygen cluster about the ions to form
small air ions. In normal pollutant free air over land, there are
1500 to 4000 ions/cm3. But negative ions are more mobile and Earth's
surface has a negative charge, so negative ions are repelled from
the Earth's surface. Thus the normal ratio of positive to negative
ions is 1.2 to 1.
Certain properties of small air ions are pertinent to this
discussion. They readily unite with condensation nuclei and with
most classes of air pollutants to form large or Langevin ions. In
both cases the biological activity of the small air ions is lost.
This is true also of the combination that occurs between small air
ions of opposite charge. Further, ions like charge (unipolar ions)
repel one another and tend to flow to enclosing surfaces where their
ionic nature dissipates. Since they are small and carry a charge,
they are deflected by electrical fields. All of these
characteristics make it difficult to maintain high concentrations of
small air ions and means that air ion densities are significantly
altered by the indoor living and air pollution characteristic of
urban life.
While the nature of air ions was under investigation by the
physicists, vigorous attempts were being made by the life scientists
to determine their biological effects. Although the amount of work
accomplished by the biologists is a tribute to their industry, it
must be admitted that many of the results reported in the literature
are not convincing. Several factors in the area of experimental
design served to cloak the whole field in an aura of ambiguity.
Often experiments were performed with corona discharges as ion
sources, neglecting the ozone and oxides of nitrogen sometimes
produced along with the ions. Ion densities, temperature and
relative humidity were not monitored. Experimental subjects were not
grounded; their external surfaces developed high electrostatic
charges and in consequence, repelled ions. As a rule, the air was
not purified and combination of ions with air pollutants led to
widely fluctuating ion densities. Clinicians assessing the value of
air ions as a therapeutic modality frequently committed all or some
of the errors listed above and in addition, neglected to utilise the
double blind cross over technique for ion administration. In view of
these omissions, it is not surprising that convincing proof of the
role played by air ions as physiological mediators or as therapeutic
agents has been slow to emerge.
In addition to these elements of uncertainty in experimental
procedures, the evaluation of air ions as biologically active agents
has been hampered by the widely cultivated belief that the idea is
theoretically absurd. There seems to be something about the term
"ion" that provokes incredulity - consider the state of Svante
Arrhenius, who first applied it in 1884 to describe atoms and
molecules in aqueous solution bearing a positive or negative charge
which enabled them to migrate in an electrical field. His doctoral
committee thought this idea so bizarre that they accepted his work
with the greatest reluctance and granted his degree with the lowest
possible grade. The major obstacle to acceptance of this magnificent
concept was the requirement that fundamental differences in the
properties of charged molecules (ions) and uncharged molecules be
acknowledged. In the case of air ions there is no disagreement about
the disparate physical nature of air ions and non-ionized gaseous
molecules, but there is considerable reluctance to grant that this
diversity is of biological significance.
At any rate, the essence of the argument against biologically active
air ions is this: The maximal ion density one can attain in a closed
atmosphere is approximately 1 x 106 ions/cm3, of air. Air contains
2.7 x 1019 non-ionized molecules/cm3; so that the ratio of small
ions to non-ionized molecules is 1:27 trillion. For the reasons
already mentioned above, ions have a very brief life span and under
the conditions ordinarily prevailing, attainable ion densities
usually are considerable less than 1 x 106 ions/cm3, making the
final dilution in non ionized air greater by one or two orders of
magnitude. From this unquestioned fact, the dubious conclusion has
been drawn that the very sparseness of air ions places them beyond
the range of biological effectiveness. The merit of this inference
is more specious than real, since many biological systems respond to
extremely minute chemical and physical stimuli. Two examples suffice
to bear out this contention: first, the human eye can detect a flash
of light when a single active quantum reaches the retina [9]; and
second, the male silkworm reacts to as few as 2600 molecules of the
female's sex attractant pheromone in air containing a concentration
of <200 molecules/cm3[10]. One further factor, that of commercial
exploitation, has retarded development in the field of air
ionization. During the mid-1950's air ion generators were sold
directly to the public through high-powered advertising campaigns
extolling their efficacy in treating a wide range of diseases. The
Federal Drug Administration brought these activities to a halt and
since then has prohibited the sale of ion generators for any medical
application. This unfortunate episode has led scientists and laymen
alike to conclude that the whole subject is permeated with mis-representation
or even outright fraud.
It is evident then that progress in the field of research devoted to
the detection of air ion effects on living forms has been retarded
by the very real difficulties attending the performance of
meaningful experiments, by an unhappy example of commercial
exploitation and by categorical rejection of the whole idea as a
matter of principle on the part of many component scientists. The
technical obstacles are the major reason that we now are faced with
enormous accumulation of data of very uneven quality. The matter of
rejection is not so vital, although it is disconcerting at times to
find that some of our peers classify the subject with the occult
arts.
THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF AIR IONS
The experimental observations taken as a whole serve to establish
the fact that air ions are physiologically active and can produce
functional alterations varying from barely discernible to
substantial. Further, air ions, are capable of evoking a wide range
of response in bacteria, protozoa, higher plants, insects, animals
and man. Sometimes both positive and negative ions induce
essentially the same biological reaction, in other cases they elicit
the opposite effects. A few selected examples will be presented to
illustrate the range of biological effects of small air ions and the
reader is referred to more detailed reviews of the experimental
evidence [11, 12, 13].
A brief review of the effects of air ions on micro-organisms reveals
that both negative and positive ions (1) inhibit the growth of
bacteria and fungi on solid media, (2) exert a lethal effect on
vegetative forms of bacteria suspended in small droplets of water,
and (3), reduce the viable amount of bacterial aerosols [12].
With mammalian cells in tissue culture, Worden found that Girardi's
human heart cells exposed for fourteen days to unipolar ionized
atmospheres and then transplanted into non-ionized atmospheres for
an additional fourteen days showed adversely affected growth
characteristics and rate of proliferation with positively ionized
air; growth was normal with negatively ionized air. Using fiber
blasts he obtained statistically significant evidence that negative
ions increase and positive ions decrease the rate of proliferation.
Furthermore, when the fiber blasts were removed to a non-ionized
atmosphere, the cells previously exposed to negative ions continued
to divide at an increased rate; while the cells treated with
positive ions recovered slowly and eventually attained the normal
rate of growth [14].
Over the past nineteen years, the Air Ion Laboratory of the
University of California has conducted experiments to detect
ion-induced physiological changes in plants and small animals. The
subjects were maintained in a controlled microenvironment supplied
with pollutant-free air, the sole variable being concentration of
air ions in the ambient atmosphere. Soft ?(beta) emission from
tritium absorbed on zirconium served to ionize the air without
evolving toxic by-products; selection of positive or negative ions
was accomplished by applying a corresponding charge to the generator
electrode.
Plants appear to benefit from increases in both positive and
negative ionization, and we have shown that such ionization markedly
increases the rate of growth of higher plants such as barley, oats
and lettuce. With seedlings grown in chemically defined media, we
found that unipolar (one charge only) ionized atmospheres containing
approximately 10,000 positive or negative charged ions/cm3 increased
the rate of growth by as much as 50%(as measured by integral
elongation or weight) without altering the protein, sugar, or
chlorophyll content of the plant. In marked contrast to growth
stimulation elicited by air ions, their removal from the atmosphere
resulted in a lower rate of growth, reduced turgor (pressure in
plant cells) and the development of soft, fleshy leaves. Chlorophyll
production was not affected[15]. Several clues to the biochemical
mechanism were uncovered. Positive and negative ions expedite both
the uptake of iron and its utilization of the production of
ion-containing enzymes. The ions stimulate the metabolism of the
high-energy compound adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the
chloroplasts and augment both nucleic acid metabolism and oxygen
uptake. All of these phenomena are consistent with the observed
ion-induced increase in growth rate.
Similar results were obtained when silkworm eggs and emergent larvae
were exposed to ions of either charge. Hatching began earlier,
larval growth accelerated and there was increased synthesis of three
enzymes (cattalos, peroxides and cytochrome C Oxidase). Spinning
began earlier and cocoons were heavier [16].
Much of the work we have done with animals has been on air ion
effects in the respiratory tract and we found that air ions
influence survival in respiratory diseases. High concentrations of
positive ions substantially increased the death rate of mice
infected with measured doses of a fungus (Coccidiodes immitis), a
bacterium (Klebsiells pneumoniae) or a strain of influenza virus,
all administered intranasal. Ion depleted air (comparable to ion
concentrations found in urban environments) also increased the death
rate in mouse influenza while a high concentration of negative ions
decreased the death rate [17]. In other experiments where the
influenza virus was introduced as a fine aerosol, this bypassing the
protective mechanisms of the upper respiratory tract, changing ion
concentrations had no influence on the death rate. This and other
observations suggest that the site of action of air ions is the
mucous of the upper respiratory tract [18].
An Ecological View of Health
MECHANISM OF AIR ION ACTION
With regard to the mechanism underlying the response of animals to
air ions, we have worked for several years on the changes in blood
levels of serotonin (5-hydroxy tryptamine or 5-Ht), a powerful
neurohormone capable of producing profound neuromuscular, endocrine
and metabolic effects throughout the body. In the hypothalamus 5-Ht
participates in various processes such as sleep the transmission of
nerve impulses and in our evaluation, of mood. We found a readily
reproducible and significant change in blood 5-Ht levels in mice
exposed to air ion densities of 4-5x105 positive or negative
ions/cm3. Positive ions raised blood levels of 5-Ht, while negative
ions had the opposite effect. Additionally, we found that the brain
content of free 5-Ht was responsive to the concentration of ions in
the air. Because of the chief metabolic route for removing Serotonin
(5-Ht) depends upon the enzyme monoamine oxides, we hypothesized
that small negative ions stimulate, while small positive ions block
the action of monoamine oxides, thus producing respectively a drop
or rise in the concentration of free 5-Ht in certain tissues and
eliciting a corresponding physiological response [19].
This general mechanism of air ion action has been confirmed by other
investigators. Grant Gilbert at Pacific Lutheran University
demonstrated that continuous treatment with negative ions produced
statistically significant reductions in emotionality and brain
Serotonin levels in rats [20]. Jean-Michel Olivereau of the
Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of Paris conducted
extensive experiments on the endocrine systems and the nervous
mechanisms of rats treated for various periods of time with air ions
[21, 22]. Employing elegant biochemical and histochemical
techniques, he surveyed air ion action on the hypothalamus, the
hypothesis, the adrenals, the thyroid, brain metabolism, behavior,
eating, spontaneous activity, psychomotor performance and Adaptation
to stress. He concluded that air ion-induced alterations in blood
levels of 5-Ht account for very significant physiological changes in
the endocrine glands and central nervous systems, these, in turn,
substantially alter basic physiological processes. A significant
facet to Olivereau's research is his observation that negative ions
exert a measurable anxiety lessening effect on mice and rats exposed
to stressful situations, a phenomenon noted by several other workers
[23]. This response parallels that which follows administration to
animals or man of the drug reserpine. Both reserpine and negative
ions reduce the amount of Serotonin in the mid-brain and this
apparently accounts for the tranquilizing action.
Direct and indirect evidence supporting the theory that 5-Ht is an
important mediator of air ion action on animals and humans is found
in the reports of several investigators [24-25] and is reviewed
elsewhere [26,27]. However, there is no reason to suppose that 5-Ht
is the sole agent responsible for air-ion induced alteration of
physiological function.
Such tentative biochemical probing are really no more than the first
step in elucidating the arcane mechanisms when air ions make contact
with the tissues of the test organism. Our ignorance extends from
the interface between the atmosphere and the cell wall to include
the cellular organelles, their component enzyme systems and almost
all the tissues and organs of living forms. When we turn to the
matter of air ion dosage necessary to elicit biological responses,
the situation is somewhat better. Dosage constitutes a very
practical element, for if extremely high ion densities are demanded,
there is little likelihood of air ions playing a significant role in
nature and the whole topic becomes academic, or at best, is limited
to therapeutic applications. If on the other hand, biological
effects are associated with such displacements of ion densities or
charge ratios as are known to occur in Earth's atmosphere, or even
with relatively small shifts in ion concentration that can be
affected by ion depletion or artificial ionization in ordinary
living and working quarters, the subject acquires great interest and
importance.
An outstanding example of dependence of physiological response upon
dosage has been reported by Bachman and his co-workers [24]. In
studying the influence of air ions on the spontaneous activity of
rats they noticed a curious zonal response with activity levels
falling, rising and peaking then falling again as negative ion
concentrations were increased.
Several studies, however, have demonstrated marked biological
effects with lower dosage approximating natural conditions (1.5x103
to 4x103 small ions/cm3). In the experiments of Knoll and his
collaborators on the effects of ions on simple visual reaction time
in humans, ion concentrations of only 2x103 ion cm3 produced a
remarkable decrease in reaction time [28]. Delaneau and his
colleagues found that relatively small ion dosages, for example,
5x103 to 15x103 ions/cm3 of air effectively influenced the
development of gastric ulcers in starving rats [29]. Silverman and
Kornblueh were able to detect changes in alpha frequencies of the
EEG in humans exposed to only 1.8x103 positive or negative ions/cm3
for thirty minutes [30]. Also, a sudden increase in negative ions or
precipitate drops in positive ions within the atmospheric range of
1x103 to 2x103 ions cm/3 was reported to increase moulting in
aphid's [31].
In our studies mentioned above on the effect of air ions on the
course of mouse influenza produced by intranasal challenge, we found
that ion dosage influenced the cumulative mortality rate. Unipolar
low densities of positive or negative ions (comparable to indoor and
urban environments) increased the rate of death, mid-range
concentrations of ions of either charge had no effect, while a
reduction in mortality rates occurred when the animals were exposed
to high concentrations of negative or to low concentrations of mixed
ions with mixed ions with negative ions predominating [17].
NATURAL ION ENVIRONMENTS
We have already presented evidence that air ion concentrations
comparable to those found in nature can modify physiological
processes in a variety of living forms under laboratory conditions.
Now it seems appropriate to ask do air ion-linked phenomena occur in
humans outside the laboratory? This question can be answered
affirmatively with some assurance in light of recent investigations
of large scale weather-related changes in air ion concentrations and
charge ratios coupled with concurrent clinical studies.
To begin with, a great deal of work has been done in France, Italy,
Germany and the USSR on the ionic environment of spas, particularly
those situated near waterfalls. The consensus seems to be that the
air in many such locales for whatever reason, contains a high
concentration of small air ions with a ratio of negative to positive
ions being considerably greater than normal - The Lenard effect. Bio
climatologists are inclined to attribute to this fact some of the
vis mediatrix of these resorts. This is an attractive hypothesis,
but one that is difficult to prove, since many curative modalities
are brought to bear on patients simultaneously.
Turning to the adverse effects associated with certain ion
environments, there have been long traditions in the folklore of
nearly every country that link certain changes in weather with
changes in health and behavior. One such tradition has to do with
the winds of ill repute, for example, the Foehn (Southern Europe),
Sirocco (Italy), Santa Ana (United States), Khasmin (Near East), and
Mistral (France). Wherever they prevail, their victims attribute to
them the ability to induce respiratory distress of various sorts,
nervousness, headache and a multitude of other ills. So malign is
their influence that when they blow, judges deal leniently with
crimes of passion, surgeons postpone elective surgery and teachers
expect more than the usual fractiousness from their students.
Since the turn of the century, several scientists and physicians
have hypothesized that the immediate cause of such malaise is the
upset in electrical balance of the atmosphere that precedes or
accompanies the winds. This relationship between air ions and
disease, tenuous at first, is finding support in the meteorological
observations of investigators such as Robinson and Dirnfield who
studied the Sharav, a weather complex afflicting the Near East and
characterized by persistent wind, a rapid rise in temperature and a
fall in relative humidity. Robinson and Dirnfield measured solar
radiation, temperature and relative humidity, wind velocity and
direction and the electrical state of the atmosphere before, during
and after the Sharav. They found that 12 - 36 hours before the
characteristic changes in wind, temperature and humidity, the total
number of ions increased (from 1500 ions/cm3 to 2600 ions/cm3) and
the ratio of positive to negative ions jumped from the normal 1.2 to
1.33. This early shift in ion density and ratio coincided with the
onset of nervous and physical symptoms in weather sensitive people
and was considered the only meteorological change that could be
responsible for the discomfort associated with the Sharav [32].
This conclusion is supported by the extensive studies of Professor
Felix Sulman and his colleagues in Jerusalem. They designate as the
"Serotonin Hyper function Syndrome" the cluster of signs and
symptoms that afflict a considerable segment of the population a day
or two before the onset of a hot dry wind characteristic of the
Sharav. Individuals in this category suffer from insomnia,
irritability, tension, migraine, amblyopia, oedema, palpitations,
pericardial pain, respiratory distress, hot flashes, tremor, chills,
diarrhoea, polyuria, vertigo etc. These patients display an
increased output of Serotonin in the urine and they experienced
relief when treated with negative ions or with Serotonin blocking
drugs [33,34]. There exists then, a scientific basis for accepting
the tradition that the winds of ill repute can produce malaise in
humans, that air ion imbalance is the direct meteorological incitant
and that the proximate cause of the irritation syndrome is the
positive air-ion-induced hyper secretion of Serotonin. Supporting
laboratory evidence for the adverse effect in humans of air ion
imbalances comes from a well controlled double blind experiment by
Winsor and Beckett in which volunteer subjects developed a dry
throat, husky voice, headache, itch or obstructed nose and a
reduction in maximum breathing capacity when exposed to nasal
inhalation of positive ions in concentration of 3.2x104 ions/cm3
[35].
AIR IONS AND THE HUMAN URBAN ENVIRONMENT
In modern urban life, man often faces ion conditions far different
from natural ion balances, with a significant depletion of small air
ions and a markedly increased ratio of positive to negative ions
commonly encountered. A fourteen day study in 1971 by B. Maczynski
and others showed that in an office containing four people the small
air ion concentration dropped as the day went on, falling on the
average to only 34 positive ions and 20 negative ions/cm3 [36].
Central heating and air conditioning, smoking, the usual household
activities of dusting and cooking all combine to lower levels of
small ions in indoor environments. Further, the static electricity
generated by the widespread use of synthetic fibres in clothing and
room furnishing as well as stray electric fields add a different
dimension to the indoor climate which is not conducive to the
preservation of small air ions [37].
The effects of air pollution on air ions in the ambient atmosphere
are also marked. As stated earlier, the small physiologically active
air ions readily combine with gaseous and particulate pollutants to
form large (Langevin) ions that are considered physiologically
inert. A test in a light industrial area of San Francisco by J C
Beckett in 1959 showed a small ion count of less than 80 ions/cm3 as
compared to levels of 1500-4000 small ions/cm3 found in fresh
unpolluted air [38]. The fundamental reaction is disarmingly simple:
man-> atmospheric pollutants; atmospheric pollutants + small air
ions -> air ion depletion.
That this progression has attained significant magnitude is
evidenced by the fact that small air ion levels far at sea -
normally very constant - are becoming appreciably lower with time,
as air pollutants drift out from land. Thus wile very few of our
activities add small air ions to the air, much of what we do
cumulates in ion loss. The question then amounts to this: Will the
smogs, hazes and invisible pollutants we generate with a lavish hand
so reduce the small ion content of the atmosphere that plants,
animals and man must suffer the harmful consequences?
Although the early results of ion depletion very likely will be
unimpressive compared to the immediate and dramatic action of known
toxic components of polluted air, this alone should furnish little
solace. We have every reason to be aware from past experience that
adverse effects may follow continued exposure to a small amount of a
minor irritant (for example, organic solvents) or the long term
deprivation of an essential metabolic requirement (for example,
trace elements or vitamins). People travelling to work in polluted
air, spending eight hours a day in offices or factories and living
their leisure hours in urban dwellings inescapably breathe ion
depleted air for substantial proportions of their lives. There is
increasing evidence that this ion depletion leads to discomfort,
enervation and lassitude and loss of physical and mental efficiency.
This syndrome appears to develop quite apart from the direct toxic
effects of the usual atmospheric pollutants.
Physicians and environmental engineers have long suspected that the
inimical effects of "dead air" in crowded rooms are due to ion
depletion. In 1939, three Japanese Scientists, S Kimura, M Ashiba
and L Matushima showed that if temperature, humidity and carbon
dioxide levels were all kept within ranges considered suitable for
human comfort, but the ion level was reduced, individuals suffered
from such as perspiration and depression. Further, these symptoms
were promptly relieved when normal ion densities were restored by
the use of ion generators [39]. Recently, a team of Soviet
scientists tested the effects of varying ion conditions on humans
employing an impressive battery of tests to measure cardiovascular
functioning, reaction time and blood chemistry. They concluded that
any enclosed compartments with "conditioned" air such as a space
capsule, are likely to be depleted of ions and have a considerable
excess of positive ions and that prolonged stays in such an ion
environment is detrimental. The Soviet scientists recommended that
ionisation in such environments be increased to a more normal 2000
ions/cm3 and that the addition of negative ions be alternated with
positive or bipolar ionisation [40]. The effect of various ion
concentrations and charge ratios on human performance, reaction
time, vigilance and psychomotor tasks is suggestive but inconclusive
and has been reviewed elsewhere [41].
ARTIFICIAL ION GENERATION: CLINICAL APPLICATIONS
So much for the potential role of an air ion-depleted environment in
man's future. There remains the more promising consideration of the
environmental and medical applications of artificially generated air
ions. At present, there exists several means of artificially
producing air ions, including corona discharge and tritium
generators. These ion generators make it possible to re-establish
natural and optimal microclimatic conditions in living and working
quarters. Eventually air ion standards for comfort and health may be
established, just as we now have set limits for temperature,
relative humidity, carbon dioxide levels, etc. It may also be
possible to make available, highly beneficial ion-rich micro
environments that could serve various hygienic and therapeutic
functions. However, the development and use of this technology must
go hand in hand with efforts to reduce air pollution from industry,
automobiles and tobacco smoke, which effectively interfere with
attempts to create a balanced ionized atmosphere.
If the results of our experiments with respiratory disease in mice
can be extrapolated to man, we might expect that the ion depleted
air of our offices and factories would lower resistance to influenza
and perhaps other infections. Conversely, inhaling a mixture of air
with, say, 4000 ions/cm3 and with negative ions predominating,
should increase resistance. A recent study in a Swiss bank indicated
that this is so. In the test, 309 volunteers worked for thirty weeks
in an area where the air was treated to develop a high ratio of
negative to positive ions, while 362 controls, worked in untreated
air. During the test, the ratio of days lost because of respiratory
illness in the two groups was an incredible 1 to 16 [42].
Finally, one can look at some medical applications of high ion
concentrations. Kornbleuh and his colleagues have used negative ion
therapy successfully for burn patients. Hospitalised patients were
treated for 1 to 1.5 hours a day and out patients for twenty five to
thirty minutes, to negative ion concentrations as high as 10,000
ions/cm3. Pain, restlessness and incidence of infection were reduced
and healing promoted [43]. This application may be related to
Serotonin hypothesis of air ion action. Burn patients present
increased levels of Serotonin (5-hydroxtryptamine) in damaged
tissues and in the blood and Serotonin is known to be associated
with pain under some circumstances. We have shown in laboratory
animals that inhalation of negative ions increases the conversion of
Serotonin to 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (a physiologically inactive
metabolite) and this reaction may be involved in the relief of pain
reported by burn patients treated with a high concentration of
negative ions.
Another instance of laboratory observations coinciding with clinical
usage is to be found in our work at the university of California and
that of Palti, De Nour, and Abrahamov at Hadassah Medical School in
Jerusalem. Smith and Krueger noted that the inhalation of positively
ionised air by small animals contracted the smooth muscle of the
tracheo-bronchial tree and decreased the operational efficiency of
the mucus escalator, effects that could be duplicated by the
intravenous injection of 5-HT; negative ions had the opposite
effect[44]. Palti and his colleagues found that exposure to positive
ions increased the respiratory rate and degree of bronchospasm in
infants with asthmatic (spastic) bronchitis while treatment with
negative ions produced an opposite and therapeutic effect. The
negative ion therapy terminated the spastic attack after a much
shorter period than that required by the conventional mode of
treatment and, in addition, no adverse side effects common to the
drug therapy, were observed with the negative ionisation. Further,
since the subjects in this experiment were infants under the age of
one year, the possibility that the observed effects were due to
physiological factors was minimised [45].
P C Boulatov, a Soviet investigator, has summarised his experiment
work over the past thirty five years involving the treatment of over
3,000 bronchial asthma patients with high concentrations of negative
ions. He has reported that after a short period of temporary
exacerbation there followed substantial improvements in the general
state of the patients, a normalisation of the blood picture,
improved respiratory function and a reduction in the frequency and
intensity of attacks of bronchial asthma [46].
Kornbleuh, the pioneer American investigator of air ion phenomena
and his co-workers obtained temporary relief of acute hay fever
symptoms in patients treated with high concentrations of negative
air ions. They speculated that the mode of action might be due to
some physical and/or chemical effect on microscopic airborne
contaminants such as dust, spores, bacteria and pollen or to a
direct physiological action on the respiratory tract [47].
More recently, Dr A P Weaner reported on a closely related
therapeutic modality: electro aerosols in which minute water
droplets act as a vehicle for electric charges. This therapy used
extensively in Germany and the USSR has reportedly been applied with
success in the treatment of respiratory disorders and various
manifestations of autonomic dysfunction such as migraine, nervous
tension and depression [48]. Wehner also reviewed the work of K H
Schulz who found that negatively charged aerosols seem to stimulate
the parasympathetic nervous system and therefore can help to restore
autonomic balance in cases of an overstimulated activation. From
these observations, Schulz postulated that the effect of the ions
would depend on the state of activation of the autonomic nervous
system and further, that if the proper charge of ions is
administered to a given ion "type" individual a normalisation of
autonomic functioning would occur [49].
In line with this theory were the findings of Monaco and Acker, who
performed a large number of tests on a group of Psychiatric patients
and a group of non-patients. In the psychiatric patients, negative
ionisation decreased systolic blood pressure, increased skin
resistance and increased pulse finger volume, indicating increased
parasympathetic nervous system activity. For the non patients, only
a significant decrease in pulse finger volume occurred, indicating
slight increase in sympathetic nervous system activity. Thus, it
appears that the negative ions had a normalising influence, lowering
activation of the psychiatric patients and increasing the activation
of the non-patients [50].
Noting the relationship between air ions and neurohormones and
following the reports that negative ions produce a sedative effect,
R Ucha Udabe, R Kertesz and L Franceschetti at the Catholic
University in Buenos Aires tried treating a large number of patients
suffering from psychoneurosis and anxiety syndromes. Sessions varied
from fifteen minutes to two hours and the number of treatments from
ten to twenty. These authors were very impressed with the
conspicuous disappearance of simatic complaints and claimed
favourable results in 80% of their patients [51]. M Deleanu also
claims success in the treatment of gastro duodenal ulcers in animals
and man using relatively low dosages of air ions (5000 to 10,000
negative ions/cm3 and 1000 to 2000 positive ions/cm3) [52].
This is only a brief review of some of the developing areas of
clinical research, but based on the evidence surveyed in this paper,
it appears that air ion investigations constitute a legitimate and
promising branch of biological research. As more information is
acquired about the mechanisms underlying the reactions between air
ions and living systems, we should be able to evaluate more clearly
than at present the importance of air ions in nature and assess
their potential for clinical and non clinical applications. |
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| 負離子改善兒童記憶力及注意力 |
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空氣維他命 : 負離子 |
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