- TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's
Sharp Corp said on Thursday it has found that its technology for eliminating
molds and odors can also kill harmful viruses such as flu and that it would
seek to boost sales of home appliances that incorporate it.
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- Sharp said tests had shown its air purification technology
can inactivate airborne viruses such as influenza and Coxsackie, known
for causing summer colds, preventing them from spreading in homes and offices.
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- Shigeo Misaka, a Sharp executive vice president, said
the technology represents part of the company's strategy of focusing on
environmentally friendly products. "Our focus has been shifting to
green goods from white goods," Misaka told a news conference. "What
we aim for is clean, safe and environmentally friendly products rather
than convenient, easy and speedy products."
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- Japanese consumer electronics makers have been racking
their brains to offer high-end products to compete in Japan's matured market
for big-ticket items such as washing machines and televisions.
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- Sharp introduced this technology in 2000 as a way to
purify air quality and used it in such appliances as air cleaners, air
conditioners, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and heaters.
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- Sales of these products have reached about $509 million,
but Misaka said now that the technology has proved more effective, Sharp
aims to increase that to $848 million by fiscal 2004/05 by targeting new
customers such as hospitals and schools.
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- The technology uses positive and negative ions, which
destroy the surface proteins of viruses at the molecular level.
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- Negative ions, which are oxygen atoms usually generated
in natural environments such as forests and waterfalls, have created a
buzz in the home appliance market with health-conscious Japanese consumers
snapping up a variety of products featuring negative ion generators.
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- Shares of Sharp closed up 1.74 percent at 1,167 yen,
in line with a 1.62 percent rise in the Nikkei average.
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- Note - Sorry, Sharp didn't discover this...it's old
news. Although Sharp isn't using the word,
- it is Ozone mixed with oxygen in small amounts that does
the purifying. Since 'ozone' is considered to be 'smog' according to the
much of the ill-informed public, Sharp is instead employing the expression
'positive and negative ions'.
-
- Ozone air purifiers have been on the market for many
years, purifying the air in homes,
- offices, and are even used by smart hotel/motel owners
to destroy cigarette odors, mold and
- fungus in guest rooms. Ozone has been used as a medical
therapy in Europe to kill viruses and bacteria for over 60 years...but
is kept at a low profile by the pharmaceutical industry which would much
rather have people purchase antibiotics. If you want to do further research
on ozone
- therapy for health, enter that term in any major search
engine. -ed
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