Ozone scare

In the office we've had an Ozone Machine running all day long for, I'm guessing, a few months now. I never thought anything of it and was just hoping that it would help my allergies.

The owners have it to send out to stores when there's been flooding or leaks to get the musty smell out of the air.

The other day someone said something about how it shouldn't be running all the time because it's probably not good to be breathing that in all the time.

So this morning I decided to do some research and find out because I haven't been feeling all that great at work lately. And the machine sits about 10 feet above and about 7 feet away from me. They also had it set for a 1,000 sq. ft room and this room, tops, is probably only half that. Meaning it's spitting out more then it should be.

This is what I found for side effects according to the EPA:

Decreases in lung function

Aggravation of asthma

Throat irritation and cough

Chest pain and shortness of breath

Inflammation of lung tissue

Higher susceptibility to respiratory infection

So I send the link and side effects to the two other people that share this office. My boss also agreed that we should turn it off and said that he didn't like that thing running all the time anyways. The other person was mad because I turned it off and thinks it should be left on. She said that this room isn't small enough to worry about side effects, according to one of the owners. I told her that I am sitting the closest to that thing and if she wants it on then she can move it to her side of the room and I will just have my window open all the time for fresh air. She didn't seem to like that. So we will see if I am less lethargic at work now. I hope it's done no real damage and the paranoia is all in my head.