Are Ozone CPAP Cleaners Safe?
By Angela Giudice, RPSGT
Are ozone CPAP cleaners safe?
My History as a Sleep Clinician
I have been a clinician in the sleep business for a long time. Sometimes I see a product on the market that raises an eyebrow, and sometimes I see a product that raises genuine concern.
Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) run the gamut from healthy and athletic to those faced with other comorbidities such as asthma, COPA, and pulmonary fibrosis.
It is that overlap of the patient population that concerns me most when I see ozone-based CPAP cleaners heavily marketed.
States Taking Action
Out in California, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) was sufficiently alarmed to adopt legislation to protect public health. Why? Because ozone is not what other manufacturers advertise it to be (i.e. “activated oxygen”). Instead, ozone is a toxic gas. FDA regulations are pretty clear on this:
Sec. 801.415 Maximum acceptable level of ozone.
(a) Ozone is a toxic gas with no known useful medical application in specific, adjunctive, or preventive therapy. For ozone to be effective as a cleaner, it must be present in a concentration far higher than that which can be safely tolerated by humans and animals.
(b) Although reports include undesirable physiological effects on the central nervous system, heart, and vision, ozone’s predominant physiological effect is the primary irritation of the mucous membranes. Inhalation of ozone can cause sufficient irritation to the lungs to result in pulmonary edema. The onset of pulmonary edema is usually delayed for some hours after exposure; thus, the symptomatic response is not a reliable warning of exposure to toxic concentrations of ozone. Since olfactory fatigue develops readily, the odor of ozone is not a reliable index of atmospheric ozone concentration. (emphasis added).
Ozone Cleaning CPAP Products
The two products I see in the marketplace that rely on ozone for cleaning are SoClean and VirtuClean.
One has a warning not to use the CPAP equipment for several hours. The other has no warning at all for a waiting period.
A safe waiting period is probably several hours.
A Dangerous Lack of Manufacturer Information
But, how much ozone is being vented in the room? Is it safe for pets, children and the elderly? Does the product
label even indicate how much ozone is released?
Probably not.
If a patient wants to use an ozone product, at least some awareness as to the risks needs to be raised to ensure that the product is used safely and as directed.
Likely Scenarios
The worst thing that can happen is that the patient does not wait several hours to use and inhales a full column of ozone in the CPAP hose into their lungs, or the device vents enough ozone to raise the room concentration above 0.05 ppm.
So are ozone CPAP cleaners safe?
If you can smell ozone, you are breathing it.
And that is never a safe thing.
Thank you. Just the honesty I wanted to be aware of.
My nasal mask gets yellow after I clean it in my soclean machine that I recently purchased.
Is that from ozone?
Thank you for your answer.
I want to thank you so much for this information as I bought the machine a year ago and just now am learning of the dangers, My cats & I have been exposed every day to that ozone. I am so worried about them and second furious that no warnings were given about this item plus third the price I paid for a machine that most likely has been affecting my cats and me. I specifically asked if it would hurt my cats when I purchased it and was assured it would be no problem. It wasn’t until I had to have smoke/fire cleaning done that I learned about this and immediately found your web site. Please keep up the good work and I am definitely bookmarking your page.
I’m left confused by this article. I use ozone generator to clean BPAP for 2 hours. I leave it sit for min 4 hours then run the BPAP machine with all parts assembled through 8-10 two min cycles to clear all passages in the machine. This seems to be sufficient cleaning but I sometimes detect slight ozone odor when I first turn on and use. If I can detect slight odor am I a risk after all this.
Thank you for your insight. It has helped me reconsider the purchase of the SoClean product. I heard thru the vines that it was using Ozone and you have given me the definitive proof herein.
Just bought a cheap Chinese CPAP cleaner on Amazon, they list dozens of brands which are very similar. I have OSA, COPD, ILD/PF, pulmonary hypertension and I’m 20 mos. Past radiation for lung cancer. I’ve used this machine twice and now I’m very concerned about using it.
Sounds like Amazon shouldn’t even be selling these. No way to verify quality and concentration of the O3 it produces.
I’m sending it back.
Hello,
I have used a so-clean machine for over 2 years now. I have had a lung problem and increased mucus production ever since. It became more and more a problem with time. My machine was set to clean at noon and I always went to bed after midnight. So I gave it more than the suggested time to rest and have the ozone dissipate. I am having significant problems and am angry about being mislead about this product! It has been determined that the ozone is my problem, by the doctor! I hope that people become more aware of the risks! Kathi
I just had an appointment with my Sleep Specialist today. I told him that I purchased the SoClean-2 Machine over Christmas Holidays. I also told him that I have been having breathing difficulties with my CPAP machine as well as a dry cough that I have not experienced in the past. He told me to contact Apria to see if they will allow me to return the machine for refund or store credit. The Customer Service Department was very rude and not interested in the difficulties I had been having since I purchased their machine. I received the machine sometime the week of November 18th. They advised me it’s past their 30 day return policy.
I wished I would have read the reviews about Ozone. I had no idea that this equipment could cause health problems until now.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I purchased a new SoClean 2 cpap cleaner and used it for almost 1 1/2 weeks. From the beginning I noticed thie strong unpleasant odor. Finally, I did some research and found that the Ozone cleaning agent odor can be strong enough to cause potential lung irritation and not be good for you. . One article read claimed that industranial ozone cleaner could be a powerful carcinogen and may have a link to cancer? I used the SoClean 2 for approximately 10 days and the smell really started making me sick. I followed the directions on cleaning and useage and still had the smell. Finally, I got fed up and sent it back to the seller. I would not recommend the SoClean 2 to anyone! I think you are putting you life in danger!t
When I use my SoClean machine, I smell the odor of fresh air which is a very pleasant scent . Is that ozone? I am concerned because I recently have been having more problems with shortness of breath. I do have COPD. I have it set to go on at 10AM and it is completed by 12noon. I do not use it until 9 or 10PM. Is that safe or am I further damaging my lungs? I am worried after reading your article.
I recently purchased a small cpap cleaner and used it once. After carefully reading the instructions I started the machine and allowed it to complete is cleaning operation 30 minutes. After the cleaning cycle I entered the room and was sure I began to feel lightheaded after a few seconds. After further investigation I discovered I my have ozone sensitive. My machine came with no such warnings or cautions. It was not advertised that it wou;d be using ozone gas as a cleaning agent. It’s billed a oxidized air. I am returning the machine and I fell the FDA should set guidelines for these machines..
Hi I have sleep Apnea and have been using my Cpap machine for several years now. My issue now is that I purchsed Prime Clean Cpap cleaner and have been using it for about 3 weeks now. I did see a warning about not using it after it has just been cleaned. I neglected that a few times because I needed to get to sleep. Since then in the last week I have gotten sinus and chest congestion irritations and had to stop using it . I,m still a little congested and concerned about using it again unless i clean it early in the day but for now I,m a little worried. What should i do?
I used wave cpap cleaner, when i woke the next morning the right side of my my face below my ear was swollen. could this be from the cleaner ozone?
So, how can SoClean be so popular if it may not be safe. If peculiar smell the ozone harmful to health?
Can these devises (o3 Ozone) also be safely used to clean N95 masks?
I used my Whiskey CPAP cleaner, which is also an ozone producing cleaner. Unfortunately, I have developed a rather nasty cough. Could it also be related to my CPAP cleaner?