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California Air Resources Board ( CARB) NewsNowhere can you breathe cleaner or fresher air... Click HERE to download this letter in WORD format to give to your customers. |
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Dear Consumers: Ozone is criticized from time to time. We have chosen half a dozen very pristine places to talk about. |
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Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, one of the most famous, most visited beaches in the world. Measure the ozone at noon on a sunny day. It will be .03 or .04 part per million, sometimes higher! The air smells fantastic and is considered to be very healthful.
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Padre Island National Seashore, a 100-mile long beach and dune region near Corpus Christi, Texas. Each day’s ozone level will be determined by the brightness of that day’s sunshine. On an overcast day it might be .02 ppm. It will be .04 ppm on a clear day. |
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The viewing platform at Mount Rushmore National Monument, Rapid City, South Dakota. You guessed it—.04 ppm on a sunny day. That is considered a natural, healthy ozone level for fresh, outdoor air. |
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Glacier National Park, Montana (connects at the Montana border to Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada). Wonderful, refreshing air every day… and what does it contain? You guessed it… .04 ppm of ozone.
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Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Here’s another fresh and wonderful place. We have a lot of beautiful places in America. All of these places have ozone-freshened air every day. |
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The Grand Canyon, Arizona—yet another example of God’s glory and nature’s perfection. |
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These places are known for fabulous vistas and clean, healthy air. The summer air in Arizona is hot and dry. Around the beaches it tends to be humid and windy. In northern Montana and southern Alberta the air is crisp. All of these fantastic places have natural O3 levels that go up in the bright daytime hours and down at night. Ozone is created by the UV component of sunlight as the sun shines through our atmosphere (21% oxygen, less than one ten-thousandth of a percent is ozone). This is basic high school science. Indoors (in the absence of sunlight) the O3 levels dip to zero unless air is vented in through open windows or an air exchange system. A primary solution for Sick Buildings is to vent in outside air (which contains ozone in the daytime). Doesn’t that tell you loudly and clearly that ozone is okay? Our solution is to reconstitute indoor air electronically by adding low levels of ozone and high levels of ionization to the air. We call this Air Purification. The result is similar to venting in outside air (but without the dust/pollution/odors!). This concept is very different from filtration. Common sense and the user's manual both tell users not to run the unit on an unnaturally high setting. Residential and business customers who use purifiers don't want high levels of O3. No one does. It's just a matter of making indoor air fresh like outdoor air...with a side benefit of removing odors and smoke. Even non-smokers occasionally burn food or warm up the atmosphere of their home with a fireplace, and visitors sometimes come in with smoke on their clothing.One EcoQuest user says, "My neighbor and his little girls came to my door to sell us some Christmas wrapping paper. He sniffed the air and said, 'Your house smells great!' The UPS man also said my house has a great freshness to it. My carpenters and my occasional housekeeper like my air purifiers. If I didn't have an air purifier, my house would smell like other people's houses. There would be hints of mold, food, sweat, smoke, pets, and what have you."
This gentleman writes: "My grandson visits and sleeps here. His mother and I are always confident that the air is fresh. Cody doesn't need to visit me to get fresh air. His mother has operated two air purifiers in her home since the day he came home from the hospital." Will you occasionally hear some criticisms about air purifiers? Yes. Various political entities, especially in California, have spoken out against ozone ( their point of view comes from the famous LA smog problem; ozone gets blamed for what is really an unburned hydrocarbon issue). Negative press scares some customers but bolsters the resolve of others who know the benefits they've seen in their homes. A dozen years ago the airwaves were full of stories that cell phones would cause brain cancer. Well, we haven't all died from brain cancer. Those reports simply were not true.Some EcoQuest units do not produce ozone. Others are ozone-adjustable. Each customer makes up his own mind based on the circumstances within his own home or building. A home with strong odors would want a little ozone because it's so highly effective for controlling odors. A home with open windows might prefer to keep the ozone control "off" or "normal." We support solid science and common sense. Studies from two major universities have helped to document and quantify the benefits of our products. Good luck to all, Bob Giddens |
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Nowhere can you breathe cleaner or fresher air... ...Part 2, for Leaders HERE to download the customer's letter in WORD format. |
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Dear Leaders: Vollara distriburors are sometimes asked about articles and other public commentary. One quote from USA TODAY was written by Elizabeth Weise: "Popular and expensive ionizing air cleaners—a staple of late-night infomercials—could expose users to lung-damaging levels of ozone, and they do a poor job of actually cleaning the air, according to a study in the May issue of Consumer Reports." The Consumer Reports magazine of that year did not mention Vollara or any of our products. The bad news is that ozone was referred to as a bad thing. In truth, there are good things to say about ozone, too. Ozone has been called bad for decades. This kept most companies from adding ozone to their air systems. Their failure to do this allowed EcoQuest to lead the market in this class of products. Properly adjusted ozone is a wonderful features of our technology. There is no reason for concern because (a) the levels we advocate are similar to healthy outdoor air and (b) millions of people have lived with this technology for years with no problems. Article that pop up from time to time—and the commentary that follows—that negatively impact us. This is the way of life and business. Every task we undertake must be accomplished in an environment of risk versus reward. It usually follows that the greater the risk, the greater the reward. We become stronger by overcoming obstacles and, in the long run, we even benefit from having our weaker clients and dealers weeded out. The Law of Survival is at play. The strong will become stronger for having struggled. We have technologies that come directly out of the Space Age (Radiant Catalytic Ionization, Photo-hydro Ionization, hydroxyl generation—all tied to UV light effects). These technologies are not being challenged. We give our users the option to turn their ozone up, down or off. A family or business can get the cleanest, safest, and healthiest indoor air than by adding our technologies to their homes and buildings. We have peer-reviewed studies from two universities. These studies address individual issues such as mold control, bacteria kill rates, and particulate control. They also address overall indoor effectiveness. We know our technologies work because of testing, customer satisfaction and personal knowledge. Build your business. Build your career. Sincerely and enthusiastically, Bob Giddens Satisfied user of EcoQuest air technologies! |
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California Air Resources Board ( CARB) News |
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Distributors: Beginning October 18, 2010, any portable air cleaning device offered for sale in California must be certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as emitting no more than 0.050 parts per million of ozone. As explained below, certain labeling requirements also apply (this would apply to machines held in inventory; however, the deadline for meeting labeling requirements may be extended—see below). Vollara already manufactures complying, certified products. The regulation is the result of a recent state law and concern about persons being exposed to ozone, a potentially harmful air pollutant. The CARB regulation applies to any person who manufactures, sells, supplies, offers for sale, or introduces into commerce in California any indoor air cleaning device used or intended for use in occupied spaces. As a company that sells air cleaning devices, Vollara will comply fully with this regulation. A copy of the complete regulation is available at www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2007/iacd07/finalreg07.pdf. In summary, portable air cleaners used or intended for use in occupied spaces must be: (1) tested by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory for ozone emissions and electrical safety under ANSI/UL Standard 867 (or, for "mechanical filtration only" devices, tested for electrical safety under ANSI/UL Standard 507); (2) certified by CARB; and (3) labeled on the product packaging. Labels for non-medical devices (those for which no health claims are made) must read: "This air cleaner complies with the federal ozone emissions limit. CARB certified." Medical devices (those for which health claims are made) must use labeling required by the federal Food and Drug Administration, and include "CARB certified" in the label. For air cleaners manufactured prior to April 1, 2011, the label may be an adhesive sticker. Some air cleaning devices are exempt from the regulation. These include indoor air cleaning devices used for certain defined industrial uses (e.g. water purification; see section 94801(a)(15) of the enclosed regulation for a list of exempt industrial uses) and also in-duct systems where the air cleaner is designed, marketed and used solely as a physically integrated part of a central heating, air conditioning, or ventilating system. Industrial use devices must be purchased solely through an industrial supply outlet or business and must be labeled as "Solely for industrial use. Potential health hazard: emits ozone." Non-industrial indoor air cleaners that are not certified and are sold on the Internet or by catalog must include the following advisory, displayed prominently: "Does not meet California requirements; cannot be shipped to California." Further information is available from the CARB web site at www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/aircleaners/aircleaners.htm, including a fact sheet of "Frequently Asked Questions" at www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/aircleaners/faq.pdf. A proposal to extend the compliance date for the labeling requirements is under consideration at the Air Resources Board. Those interested can receive updates directly from the CARB by joining their air cleaner listserv as instructed at www.arb.ca.gov/listserv/listserv.php. As an air cleaner manufacturer, Vollara is required to provide the CARB with the names and contact information of all of our known distributors, retailers and sellers. Failure to do so may result in rejection or revocation of our certification. However, as provided in the regulation, we can request that the contact information submitted be kept confidential as specified in state regulations and law. Vollara distributors are encouraged to review the information found at the above-referenced links so that you are familiar with the specific requirements of the regulation that may affect you. If you have questions about the regulation and our specific plans for meeting it that are not answered by the information above and in the enclosed document, please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-989-2299. For further information about the regulation, you may also call Jim Behrmann of the CARB at 916-322-8278 (jbehrman@arb.ca.gov). Thank you for your attention to this information. |