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Tiny yet power-packed, a little dynamo resides at the core of Plasmacluster Ion technology. Our Sharp air purifier review will now highlight the enhanced 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

Plasma is formed upon delivery of negative and positive voltages to the discharge electrodes in the Plasmacluster Ion generator. Plasma is often described as the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid and gas. Existing in a partially ionized gaseous form, plasma is a mixture of atoms, molecules and free electrons that are not bound to either. Water molecules existing naturally in the plasma are broken down into negative oxygen ions and positive hydrogen ions. Distinct and stable Plasmacluster Ions are created when atmospheric water molecules form clusters around the hydrogen and oxygen ions. Plasmacluster Ions colliding with pathogens serve as the catalyst to form hydroxyl radicals, which is extremely reactive and highly unstable. 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. The perfect scenario! But is it fact or fiction?

Plasmacluster Ion – Scientific Fact or Science Fiction?

An honest Sharp air purifier review will not sweep aside an important doubt – are Plasmacluster Ions science fiction or scientific fact? Plasmacluster Ions, like many nano-technological products, are completely invisible to the naked human eye. To complicate matters, individuals who use air purifiers have no scientific means to ascertain if the claims are genuine. Accordingly, individuals can only depend on the findings of tests conducted with Plasmacluster Ions. There are 2 ways to do this, in the real world or efficiency testing or in the laboratory or efficacy testing.

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. Based upon cooperation between Sharp and well-known academic institutions, scientific experiments are conducted to verify the claims in relation to Plasmacluster Ion technology. Scientific data produced by academia becomes the basis for introducing new products by Sharp. Two separate approaches to effectiveness, efficacy and efficiency, is being pursued by Sharp. Efficacy testing has been the focus from the year 2000 to July 2009. It has begun and is developing efficiency testing with end users of Plasmacluster Ion technology.

Plasmacluster Ion – Authentication at Cellular Level

Delving deep for 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. 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.

Another significant finding was that Plasmacluster Ions do not penetrate the pathogen cell membrane to impact the cell DNA. The fact that Plasmacluster Ions annihilate pathogens without having to destroy their DNA is claimed as an advantage over some other air purification technologies that specifically rely on DNA destruction. The flipside of this claim is that possible interference with DNA may have unintended cancer implications to users of other technologies.

Plasmacluster Ion – Efficacy Testing

This current Sharp air purifier review spotlights the efficacy tests on pathogens conducted by various organizations on behalf of Sharp. From September 2000 to July 2009, eff icacy tests have proven that Plasmacluster Ions destroy 28 different kinds of harmful airborne pathogens. Quite impressively, the list of 28 includes potentially deadly viruses like the SARS virus, the H5N1 bird flu virus, the H1N1 virus like the one that caused swine flu in 2009 and bacterium like the pernicious MRSA that infects hospitalized patients.

The coxsackie virus which causes the common cold and the polio virus are also inactivated 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 range of fungi (alternaria, aspergillus, cladosporium, mucor, penicillium, stachybotrys) are also effectively destroyed together with pollen, mites and other allergens.

The organizations, some of which conducted multiple tests, were:

- Ishikawa Health Service Association, Japan

- Kitasato Institute, Medical Center Hospital, Japan

- Kitasato Research Center of Environmental Sciences, Japan

- Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, Japan

- Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China

- Seoul University, Korea

- Asthma Society of Canada

- Harvard School of Public Health, USA

- CT&T, Aachen University of Applied Science, Germany

- University of Lübeck, Germany

- Retroscreen Virology, Ltd., London, UK

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).

Wrapping up our Sharp air purifier review on 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 is an international standard that must be renewed every three years. This is an important factor that is often ignored by critics of air purification technologies and academic marketing. Yet another overlooked fact is the possibility of scientifically peer reviewing the test results of a GLP laboratory. The scientific peer review, as we are well aware, is the final turn in the maze of air purification technologies, including Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion technology!

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