Ozone is a colorless gas made of oxygen - Most oxygen in the air is O2 - two joined oxygen atoms - This is the oxygen that we breathe and sustains life - Ozone is O3 - three oxygen atoms joined together.

The name "ozone" is derived from the Greek word "ozein" which means "to smell". Ozone is a bluish, water-soluble gas with a distinctive smell. Ozone occurs naturally in our environment when oxygen, released from the earth during normal production cycles travels up through our atmosphere and is converted to ozone by ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Ozone is one of the trace gases that make up our atmosphere.

Ozone is classified as an oxidant or a substance that converts organic material into their base compounds. Ozone is a very fast acting and powerful oxidizing agent, more powerful than chlorine and second only to fluorine. Ozone’s oxidizing effect causes damage to the fatty acids in the cellular membrane literally destroying the cell, a process known as cell lysing. It is the highly unstable single O1 atom that breaks free from the O3 molecule leaving O1 (free radical) and O2 (oxygen). The O1 radical seeks to oxidize everything it comes in contact with and serves as the perfect medium for the elimination of viruses, bacteria, mold spores, mildew, offensive odors, dust mites and VOC’s to name a few. Ozone is an unstable gas with a half-life of approximately 40 to 90 minutes, dependent mainly on the temperature, it then reverts back to oxygen. There is no magic or smoke and mirrors with respect to ozone, it is a chemical process that is predictable and well understood.

Since ozone dissipates quickly, ozone generating equipment must be used on-site to be effective. At Medallion Healthy Homes we utilize our proprietary state of the art UV light generators to manufacture clean ozone, ozone that is free of any harmful by-products like nitric acids or oxides. Electrically produced ozone generators (corona discharge machines) tend to produce these harmful by products and are much less efficient than the UV light ozone generators.

The process of manufacturing the ozone is relatively simple; oxygen (O2) is taken in by fans on the generators and driven past the UV lamps inside. The oxygen in the air is then converted to ozone (O3) by the UV light as the air passes by these lamps. More lamps inside bigger machines means more ozone producing capabilities for larger spaces. It is the technology of our UV lamps that is the complex piece of the puzzle and proves why Medallion Healthy Homes remain the industry leaders with this technology.