Ozone
Ozone is composed of
three molecules of oxygen (whose symbol is O3) and it is a natural
component of Earth's atmosphere, where it is formed through a
photo-chemical process. It looks like a light blue gas, with a
characteristic pungent odor, and it is highly reactive.
Despite being a known-element until the nineteenth century, just in
the last fifteen years, he landed its most important mechanics
action in the medical field. In July 1996, by Protocol 24482, the
Ministry of Health has approved the ozone as "Presidium for the
sterilization of natural environments." Ozone industry has
grown very rapidly in recent years: ozone is constantly being
deployed in new applications, especially in the medical, food and
industrial applications.
Ozone is the second most powerful sterilizing in the world and it
is used to disinfect, sanitize, clean and bleach objects and
environments. Its peculiarity is that it leaves no chemical
residue, no odor or taste in water or on surfaces and does not
require any rinsing after use: at the end of each cycle of
cleaning, in fact, it reverts in pure oxygen: so it is very
ecological and it also requires just low maintenance.
The gas eliminates the microorganisms in the water and it can
reduce the concentration of many pollutants and heavy metals.
Due to its oxidizing power, it is able to quickly and safely
inactivate viruses, destroy bacteria, mold, dust, yeast and
pollutants in the air, disinfecting also points difficult to reach
by traditional products sterilization. Being reactive and unstable,
it decomposes very quickly and therefore must be used immediately
after its production.
Ozone Therapy
Thanks to its
healing, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulating,
immunomodulating, analgesic and vascularising properties in medical
field, the application of oxygen-ozone therapy is very important
for a wide range of diseases.
Ozone therapy can be practiced through various routes of
administration such as subcutaneous local infiltration, the
intra-articular and intramuscular injections, self-emoinfusioni,
the rectal and vaginal insufflation.
The advantage of oxygen-ozone therapy, compared to other medical
therapies, is to cure completely natural and free of side effects:
due to the peculiarity of natural medicine, it generally has no
allergic reaction.
Oxygen-ozone therapy is used for medical purposes since the
beginning of the century throughout the world (especially Cuba,
Germany, Switzerland and USA), but Italy has started in 1983 after
the establishment of the Italian Society of Oxygen-ozone therapy,
certified by the Ministry of Health. Currently, research in the
field of oxygen-ozone therapy is active in several
universities.
Food industry
For over twenty years, ozone has been used
successfully in many food production companies, offering a natural
alternative to traditional chemical disinfection and sanitization;
from June 26, 2001 may also bear the accreditation of the U.S. FDA
that validates and demonstrates its effectiveness: ‘’The Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the food additive
regulations to provide for the safe use of ozone in gaseous and
aqueous phases as an antimicrobial agent on food, including
meat and poultry. This action is in response to a petition
filed by the Electric Power Research Institute, Agriculture and
Food Technology Alliance’’.
The growing number of food allergies and intolerances, combined
with greater consumer awareness and looking less and less processed
foods, raises the need to seek alternative means of ensuring the
health and microbiological quality of foods: Ozone is the
answer.
The use of ozone in the HACCP system is, for the food sector, a
significant step forward in the application of innovative and safe
from a logical point of view of technology, whose scientific
validity is undisputed.
The industrial use on water disinfection (of water supplies,
swimming pools, waste water, urban discharges), the water intended
for bottling, disinfecting surfaces and utensils, the oxidation of
chemical water pollutants (iron, arsenic, hydrogen sulfide, organic
nitrites), the sterilization of air-conditioning equipment and of a
public spaces (the ozone action runs from the simple disinfection
to complete air sterilization and, at the same time, it ensure the
total absence of chemical residues
