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. 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.

Plasmacluster Ion Technology Synopsis

Plasma is generated when negative and positive voltages are directed at the discharge electrodes in the Plasmacluster Ion generator. Plasma is often described as the fourth state of matter after liquid, gas, solid. Plasma is a partly ionized fluid mixture of free electrons, atoms and moelcules. Positive hydrogen ions and negative oxygen ions are formed from the decomposition of water molecules in the plasma. Distinct and stable Plasmacluster Ions are created when atmospheric water molecules form clusters around the hydrogen and oxygen ions. Upon contact with the surfaces of pathogens, Plasmacluster Ions are transformed into hydroxyl radicals which are highly reactive but unstable. The volatile nature of hydroxyl radicals causes them to swiftly bond with hydrogen atoms on the outer membranes of pathogens. The outcome; harmless water as a by-product and dead pathogens. An ideal solution! But is it real?

Plasmacluster Ion – Fact or Science Fiction?

A reliable Sharp air purifier review cannot avoid asking the inevitable – are Plasmacluster Ions fiction or fact? Plasmacluster Ions, like many nano-technological products, are completely invisible to the naked human eye. And the individual air purifier user has no means to verify its authenticity. 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. From the joint efforts, scientific data generated provides a foundation for Sharp’s new products. Two separate approaches to effectiveness, efficacy and efficiency, is being pursued by Sharp. 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

Seeking further for the purpose of this Sharp air purifier review, we sense that Sharp may be cementing its lead in this controversial industry with its focus on efficacy and efficiency testing. 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.

That the pathogenic cell DNA is unaffected by Plasmacluster Ions which do not puncture the cell membrane is of great importance. 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. Without quite saying so, the dangers of cancer from DNA annihilation is clearly alluded to for users of other air purification technologies.

Plasmacluster Ion – Efficacy Tests

This current Sharp air purifier review condenses in one place the efficacy tests on pathogens conducted by Sharp. 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. The most significant of pathogens are the deadly SARS virus, the virulent H5N1 avian flu virus, an earlier variant of the H1N1 virus which re-surfaced in Mexico in 2009 and MRSA, the notorious bacterium responsible for difficult-to-treat infections in hospital patients.

Among others, viruses annihilated by Plasmacluster Ions also include the polio virus and the coxsackie virus which is blamed for the common cold. 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:

- University of Lübeck, Germany

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

- Retroscreen Virology, Ltd., London, UK

- Harvard School of Public Health, USA

- Asthma Society of Canada

- Ishikawa Health Service Association, Japan

- Kitasato Research Center of Environmental Sciences, Japan

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

- Kitasato Institute, Medical Center Hospital, Japan

- Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China

- Seoul University, Korea

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 summarizing our Sharp air purifier review in relation to 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. Renewed on a three year basis, GLP status is of international standard. Extremely critical yet this factor is totally ignored by detractors of academic marketing and air purification technologies. Another conveniently overlooked factor is the fact that the data from a GLP laboratory can be easily the subject of a scientific peer review. The venerated scientific peer review, we know, is the last missing link in the world of Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion technology and for that matter, all other air purification technologies!

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