Abstract
Negative air ions (NAIs) have been discovered for more than 100 years and are widely used for air cleaning. Here, we have carried out a comprehensive reviewing on the effects of NAIs on humans/animals, and microorganisms, and plant development. The presence of NAIs is credited for increasing psychological health, productivity, and overall well-being but without consistent or reliable evidence in therapeutic effects and with controversy in anti-microorganisms. Reports also showed that NAIs could help people in relieving symptoms of allergies to dust, mold spores, and other allergens. Particulate matter (PM) is a major air pollutant that affects human health. Experimental data showed that NAIs could be used to high-efficiently remove PM. Finally, we have reviewed the plant-based NAI release system under the pulsed electric field (PEF) stimulation. This is a new NAI generation system which releases a huge amount of NAIs under the PEF treatment. The system may be used to freshen indoor air and reduce PM concentration in addition to enriching oxygen content and indoor decoration at home, school, hospital, airport, and other indoor areas.
Highlights
Negative air ions (NAIs) have been discovered for more than 100 years [1]
Some studies have suggested that NAIs had multiple health benefits on humans/animals, might inhibit the growth and/or kill some of microorganisms and promote plant development (Figure 3), but some of the results need to be further verified, some references might overestimate its benefits and no consistent or reliable evidence in therapeutic effects were achieved
To our knowledge, no data showed the harmful effects of NAIs on humans/animals
Summary
Negative air ions (NAIs) have been discovered for more than 100 years [1]. NAI generators are widely available for home or industrial uses. Various new technologies were developed and used to further improve NAI generation and reduce the release of its byproduct ozone. More work should be done to further improve NAI release by new methods or devices so that NAIs could be more widely used for air cleaning. We review the generation of NAIs and their effects on humans, animals, and microorganisms. We discussed the involvement of superoxide ions in biological effects of NAIs. Subsequently, we focused on plant-based NAI generation systems as these are relatively new NAI generation systems with some advantages on traditional corona discharge NAI generators. We reviewed the air cleaning ability of NAIs, especially in removing PM with diameters less than 10 micrometers (PM10)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
