Can My Air Filter Kill Me?

A product that has been on the market for quite some time is the ionic air filter. Now, one of the chemical byproducts of ionic air filters, beside clear, dust-free air, is ozone. Ozone is typically made when electric discharges pass through a gas that contains oxygen, such as air. Ozone can be made from static electricity, high-powered lightning bolts, and, yes, those ionic air filters. Unlike its cousin regular old oxygen, ozone can actually be smelled: it's that "fresh" smell after a lightning storm, or the scent of fleece-type clothing out of the dryer (not the detergent smell).
Typically, the air that we breathe is made up of inert gases, meaning that they do not readily react with anything we put into them. When an electric charge is put over gasses, however, the energy is sometimes transferred to them and forces them to change. In the case of the ionic air filter, the electric charge is generally low enough that it will not change the gases in the air, but a small amount of ozone does become effected by the charge regardless. While this certainly won't kill you, in order to prevent the effects of minor oxygen deprivation (because the production of ozone does use up some of the oxygen in the immediate area), keep ionic air filters in relatively open areas.