[sci.electronics] Ozone

carey@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu (10/21/87)

/* Written  3:07 pm  Oct 21, 1987 by carey@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu in uiucdcsb:sci.med */
/* ---------- "Ozone" ---------- */
 

Since there are so many printers and copiers around offices these days,
and many of them produce ozone during the printing process I have a
few questions about ozone in general:

What are the effects of exposure to ozone?  

Are there any cheap ozone detectors, or measuring devices for ozone level?

What methods are there for ozone filtering and/or trapping of ozone
in an office environment?
/* End of text from uiucdcsb:sci.med */

larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) (10/24/87)

In article <162700004@uiucdcsb>, carey@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
> Since there are so many printers and copiers around offices these days,
> and many of them produce ozone during the printing process I have a
> few questions about ozone in general:
> 
> What are the effects of exposure to ozone?  

	Respiratory distress, with irritation to lungs and respiratory
passages.  Effects of exposure are generally reversible.

> Are there any cheap ozone detectors, or measuring devices for ozone level?

	Not that I am aware of.  The standard method for ozone-in-air
determination consist of taking a measured volumetric sample of air,
passing it through a known amount of potassium iodide reagent solution,
titrating with standard sodium sulfite solution, and calculating ozone
concentration from titration results.
	While there are autoanalyzers to perform this measurement on a
(somewhat) continuous basis, they are not "cheap" ($ 5K or more).

> What methods are there for ozone filtering and/or trapping of ozone
> in an office environment?

	No methods that I am aware of other than insuring an adequate
amount ventilation with a suitable quantity of HVAC makeup air from the
outside.
	While ozone concentrations can be a problem in certain industrial
environments and around high-power lasers, I don't believe there is any
hazard with such items as office copiers or laser printers.

<>  Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York
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has@eagle.ukc.ac.uk (H.A.Shaw) (10/26/87)

Summary:

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Followup-To:


I don't know about the regulations on ozone, or even if that was responsible,
but I finished my thesis a few weeks ago, and my supervisor wanted me to
photocopy 4 copies.  We have a photocopier with a document handler that feeds
the pages through and sorts the output, so I put my 204 page theses in, typed
"4" and go and sat by it for a few minutes until the atmosphere made me rush to
the loos where I was sick!  Such is modern technology!  I had even opened all
of the windows in the print room before starting.  As a child I lived on the
south coast and was always told that the refreshing smell of the sea was caused
by ozone.  I would assume that the photocopier produces more than pure ozone.
I do know that ozone attacks some rubber and plastics.

 UUCP: ...seismo!mcvax!ukc!has              | Howard A. Shaw.
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 UUCP: ...seismo!mcvax!ukc!has              | Howard A. Shaw.
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Phone: +44 227 764000 Ext. 3282             | Canterbury, England. hist
> >nt

henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (10/30/87)

> ... As a child I lived on the south coast and was
> always told that the refreshing smell of the sea was caused
> by ozone...

Not true, any more than the "refreshing" smell after a storm is due to
ozone.  Ozone has (according to references -- no personal experience) a
sharp, unpleasant smell.  It is also, as you have discovered, toxic.
-- 
PS/2: Yesterday's hardware today.    |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
OS/2: Yesterday's software tomorrow. | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry

nebezene@ndsuvax.UUCP (Todd Michael Bezenek) (11/06/87)

In article <3428@eagle.ukc.ac.uk> has@ukc.ac.uk (H.A.Shaw) writes:
>                                                   As a child I lived on the
>south coast and was always told that the refreshing smell of the sea was caused
>by ozone.

I believe that the `refreshing smell' that is referenced here and in
                                          -
relation to electric storms is caused by O  ions in the air.
                                          2

-- 
Todd M. Bezenek, KO0N

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