Negative Ions

[Madalch]

I've seen ads for various woo products which supposedly emit "negative ions" which are good for you- mostly candles and such stuff. Recently, I saw a claim that amber emits these negative ions. Now, I'm a chemist rather than a physicist, but it seems to me that the only thing that will emit negative ions is a beta-emitting radioactive material (such as iodine-131), which is not generally considered good for you.

Are the woos confused by the fact that rubbing amber can generate a static charge, or are they just confused?

[Alan Heap]

mr. no education what so ever here

anyway, i've always thought negative ions are tasteless, odorless, and invisible molecules, that we breath in along with the other ions and molecules. quacks and fraudsters like to make claims that extra negative ions will improve your health even though there is no evidence to support this. apparently they increase blood flow or something, would be great if someone could post some research on this either proving or (more likely) disproving. so basically negative ions are negatively charged atoms or molecules that can be found in the air...i think.

this is what i know.

[fuelair]

For each negative ion, there must be a positive ion that gave up one or more electrons that the negative ion could have them . I assume if the negative ions are good for you, the positive ions must be bad - and since they are equal in number and also floating around if the negative ones are, then in toto, they must counterbalance and not do a damn thing at all for you. Life is tough, suck it up, avoid quacks.

[RayG]

Mr Static (http://www.ce-mag.com/archive/02/11/mrstatic.html) explores the reputed physiological effects of ions.

RayG

[logical muse]

I used to build negative ion generators back when I was a teenager. A local electronics magazine, Electronics Today International, had a project for one, and the kit was available from Dick Smith or Jaycar. I built one up for a school science project. I got other students to try and complete mazes with the NIG either on or off, to see if their performance was affected by it. From memory, the results were inconclusive, and were affected more by boredom and horniness levels than anything else.

[CLD]

Don't forget that a negative ion detector is also a ghost detector! (http://www.freepatentauction.com/patent.php?nb=619)

"This is a static ghost detector. It operation is based on the scientific principle that when 2 different materials make contact then static is created. Functionally it is a negative ion detector with a bargraph indication. The best example of this principle occurs when a person combs or brushes their hair then static is created. The same principle applies to a ghost. When a ghost or spirit makes contact with anything non-spiritual then static is created. Therefore by using this static detector it is possible to detect a ghost or spirit. "

[Cuddles]

Yeah, negative ions are really good for you. Like arsenic.