The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)
Ozone is a harmful air pollutant and lung irritant that has serious health impacts at current levels in outdoor air. The state board has determined that each year exposure to ozone results in significant numbers of premature deaths, hospitalizations due to respiratory and cardiac illnesses, emergency room visits for asthma for children under 18 years of age, school absences, and restricted activity days.
(b)
Ozone exposure poses a serious health hazard, whether exposure is from outdoor or indoor sources.
(c)
Research has demonstrated that long-term exposure to ozone may permanently damage lung tissue and reduce a person’s breathing ability.
(d)
According to recent studies, ozone-generating air cleaning devices have produced harmful levels of ozone indoors, up to three times the state outdoor air quality standard of 90 parts per billion within an hour or two of operation.
(e)
Ozone is not an effective cleaner for indoor air when operated at levels that are safe for human occupation. Independent studies cited by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumers Union have shown that ozone-generating air cleaning devices do not destroy microbes or reduce indoor air pollutants effectively enough to provide any measurable health benefits.
(f)
The state board, the State Department of Health Services, and other governmental agencies have issued warnings to advise the public not to use devices that are specifically designed to generate ozone indoors and advertised or marketed as air cleaning devices.
(g)
Ozone emitted from indoor air cleaning devices poses an unnecessary risk to public health, and, therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that the state board establish regulations to promote improved public health by restricting ozone emissions generated by these devices.