Potential use of personal ionizers to reduce occupational exposure

Airborne particulate matter (PM), especially fine and ultrafine particles, continues to pose health risks in many workplace environments. While traditional controls like ventilation and personal protective equipment (PPE) are essential, they may fall short in enclosed or low-airflow settings. This study evaluated four commercially available wearable air ionizers, AirTamer, Twinkle, Air Supply, and Timage, to explore their effectiveness as supplemental tools for reducing particle exposure.Experiments were conducted in both small and large controlled chambers to simulate real-world conditions. The AirTamer consistently showed the strongest performance, cleaned 99.9% particles in 4 minutes, with a particle decay rate of 2.80% per second and a steady-state suppression rate of about 10%. In contrast, the other devices delivered minimal or no improvement, and some failed to perform anywhere near their manufacturer-stated ion outputs.