Ions are an integral part of the atmosphere that surrounds us everywhere. There are negative and positive ions in the air, between which there is a certain balance. Negative ions (anions) are atoms that carry a negative electrical charge. They are formed by incorporating one or more electrons into an atom, thereby completing their energy level. On the contrary, positive ions (cations) are formed by the loss of one or more electrons.
Research conducted at the beginning of this century showed that air dominated by cations (positively charged ions) negatively affects health.
If the air maintains a balance (relative equilibrium) of positive and negative ions, then the human body functions properly.
Today, due to pollutants, positive ions dominate in the air, which can negatively affect health. Some people are especially sensitive to this imbalance. Cations especially affect the respiratory, nervous and hormonal systems.
Air saturated with negative ions is found in the natural environment - marine, forest, air after a thunderstorm, near a waterfall, after rain. Thus, clean natural air contains more beneficial negative ions, in contrast to the air we breathe in rooms, offices, gas-polluted areas.
Albert Kruger (pathologist-bacteriologist) conducted research on plants and animals and came to the conclusion that negative ions control the level of serotonin in the body, soothe and do not cause harmful effects.
Negative ions are very valuable for our life, health, because they affect the body through the respiratory system. Negative ions are usually present where we feel good, relaxed, fun, easy ... the body is saturated with oxygen, and the respiratory system is reliably protected from bacteria, dust, harmful impurities.
Inhaled oxygen quality
The cilia of the respiratory system trap dirt, dust from the air and other substances so that the air is delivered to the lungs much cleaner.
Electrochemical air - air with positive ions is difficult to assimilate. only negative oxygen has the ability to penetrate the lung membranes and be absorbed by the blood.
Tiny positively charged particles of dust and smog form clusters to attract negatively charged ions. Their weight, however, becomes so great that they are unable to remain in a gaseous state and sink to the ground, i.e. removed from the air. Negative ions thus help purify the air we breathe.
Ionic air imbalance
The culprit for ion imbalance is chemical pollution. Ionic imbalance leads to an increase in various diseases: respiratory, allergies, mental problems. Experts say that virtually all of the comforts of civilization produce harmful positive ions.
Positive ions have a negative effect on our health, and they prevail, for example, in closed rooms, dirty streets, before a thunderstorm. Positive ions are present where it becomes difficult for us to breathe.
Automotive, industrial smog, synthetic fibers, transmitters, ozone depletion, greenhouse effect, computer monitors, televisions, fluorescent lamps, copiers, laser printers, etc. negatively affect the balance of ions in the air (cations increase).
Today, the correct balance of ions can only be found in clean, natural surroundings. Negative ions, which are dominated by, for example, sea air have a beneficial effect on health (). Negative ions can also be called air vitamins. Their number increases in ecologically clean areas, for example, a waterfall, sea, forest. In these places it is easier to breathe, the body relaxes, rests. In principle, a person must breathe air with negative ions of at least 800 per cm 3. In nature, the concentration of anions reaches values \u200b\u200bup to 50,000 cm 3. While in urban areas, cations prevail.
However, these are the places where we spend most of our time. Excessive predominance of positively charged ions in indoor air contributes to headaches, nervousness, fatigue (), high blood pressure, and in sensitive people, they can cause allergies and depression.
Positive ions in human life
Positive ions are found where the person lives, i.e. in cities, enclosed spaces, near a TV, computer, etc. A person's house is filled with various synthetic materials that pollute the air; modern technology, LCD monitors, printers, fluorescent lamps, telephones, televisions, as well as cigarette smoke, chemical detergents () are the worst enemies of air ionization.
Negative ions in human life
They predominate mainly from clean countryside, after a storm, in caves, on mountain tops, in forests, on the seashore, next to a waterfall and other ecologically clean areas.
Areas with the highest concentration of negative ions are used as a climatic resort. Negative ions have a positive effect on the immune system, mental well-being, improve mood, soothe, eliminate insomnia ().
Increased concentrations of anions have a positive effect on the respiratory tract, help cleanse the lungs (). In addition, they increase the alkalinity of the blood, promote its purification, accelerate the healing of wounds, burns, accelerate the regenerative capacity of cells, improve metabolism, suppress free radicals, regulate the level of serotonin (the hormone of happiness) and neurotransmitters, thus contributing to an improvement in the quality of life.
A high concentration of negative ions was found in salt caves, an alternative to which is used in sanatoriums for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases.
In nature, the concentration of atmospheric ions depends on temperature, pressure and humidity, but also on the speed and direction of wind, rain and solar activity.
It has been proven that an environment containing a high concentration of negative oxygen ions kills bacteria, and even lower concentrations inhibit their growth.
Thus, air with negative ions can be used to accelerate wound healing, treat skin diseases, burns, as well as treat the upper respiratory tract.
The values \u200b\u200bof negative ions in the forest reach 1000 - 2000 ions / cm3, the Moravian Karst cave up to 40,000 ions / cm3, while the urban environment contains 100-200 ions / cm3.
The optimal concentration for a person should be higher than 1,000 - 1,500 ions / cm3, for workaholics and people engaged in mental work, the optimal value should be increased to 2,000 - 2,500 ions / cm3.
How to increase the concentration of negative ions?
To increase the concentration of negative ions, there are various products today, for example, bracelets, watches that emit anions.
In addition, there are salt lamps that can significantly improve the air in homes. They are recommended to be placed next to a computer, TV, air conditioner. You can also purchase an Orgonite crystal or an air ionizer.
Positive and negative ions: how they affect health, their sources, what should be the correct balance of ions.
Our viability directly depends on the composition of the atmosphere. Inhaled air prolongs our life or significantly shortens our life.
Why do mountain dwellers live longer, but fewer megacities? Why do we feel better at the waterfall or in the forest? We understand the article.
What is an ion?
The air is filled with scanty atoms in constant motion and having an electric charge (electrons). Colliding with each other, atoms exchange their charges. This phenomenon is well known to us as static electricity, we encounter it when combing, putting on or taking off synthetic clothing.
Having lost or received an electron, a neutral atom turns into an ion, a particle with an unequal number of protons and electrons.
If there are more electrons ion has a negative charge and is called negative ion, anion or air ion.
If there are fewer electrons ion has a positive charge and is called positive ion or cation.
Our environment and our body include both types of ions. On which one our life potential depends more.
Positive ions
Impact on health
An excess of cations in the air causes poisoning of the body and manifests itself:
Increased production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter hormone, an active participant in the transmission of nerve impulses to the brain.
Overproduction of the hormone of happiness is dangerous and disrupts the normal functioning of the whole body: central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, thermoregulation, biorhythms, circulatory and cardiac systems, etc.
The person experiences mood swings, anxiety, fear, insomnia, etc.
Fatigue, tension, anxiety, nervousness, unexplained insecurity, depression;
Frequent colds
Pressure, respiration, metabolism, hormone balance, and blood composition return to normal.
Decreases anxiety, stress, depression. Negative ion therapy is more effective than antidepressants.
Insomnia, headaches, lack of appetite disappear.
Blood flow is normalized, which serves as the prevention of heart and vascular diseases, protection from heart attacks, strokes, atherosclerosis.
By increasing the negative charge of blood cells, anions prevent them from sticking together, forming blood clots and cholesterol plaques.
This improves the flow of blood, and the walls of the vessels retain their elasticity and permeability.
The incidence of colds and flu is reduced.
The aging of the body slows down.
With age, an electrical discharge of our body inevitably occurs: with a decrease in the proportion of water in it (by almost a third by the elderly period), the electric charge in the cells decreases, and the electrical exchange in the tissues decreases.
Anions help support electrical processes, thereby prolonging our life.
It's time to remember the centenarians living in mountainous regions, where the concentration of happy ions is the highest.
Air ions start the regenerative processes in our body, strengthening the immune system.
Improves mental performance due to better admission oxygen to the brain.
Anions perfectly and permanently clean the air space:
From bacteria, viruses, mold spores, dust, pollen and other allergens;
from cigarette smoke and other volatile poisons.
Air ions are attracted to harmful positive-ionic particles and change their charge to negative.
As a result, pollutants become heavier and deposit on floors and other surfaces, leaving the air and losing the chance to enter our respiratory tract.
Sources:
nature is the most reliable supplier of air ions. They are created by cosmic radiation, radioactivity crust, natural phenomena.
Most of the air ions are formed in the mountains, near a waterfall, a turbulent river, the surf, in the forest, after a thunderstorm, storm, downpour and snowfall.
It is the high content of anions that explains the therapeutic effect of staying in mountain and sea resorts, where we are literally "treated with air".
Unfortunately, the urban environment almost completely deprives us of air vitamins.
Hazardous industrial emissions, traffic jams, electromagnetic radiation, ubiquitous Wi-Fi, total chemistry, dust - all these are killers of negative electrons.
By comparison, the air outside cities contains about 6 thousand dust particles in 1 ml. The air of an industrial city in 1 ml contains millions of them.
How to get negative ions at home:
Showers are a good source of negative ions. That is why after the morning water procedure we feel more invigorated.
We ventilate the house, there are more air ions outside the window than in the apartment.
If possible, we purchase an ion generator. Their review will follow in the following publications.
Greening the living space. Houseplants improve the microclimate by producing oxygen, air ions and phytoncides.
We walk barefoot, we ground ourselves.
Reducing the factors that neutralize negative ions:
We try to surround ourselves with natural materials (furniture, curtains, carpets, bedspreads, towels, etc.).
Turn off electrical appliances when not in use.
We do wet cleaning more often, removing dust.
Ion balance is the key to health
Air ions are necessary for us for normal life. Meanwhile, the statistics are disappointing.
At mountain rivers and waterfalls - more than 50 thousand,
In forests and meadows - reaches 1.5 thousand,
In the open field - about 1 thousand,
In the atmosphere of megalopolises - barely reaches 200 pieces,
In housing and offices - from the strength of 25-50 anions, which is negligible for health.
Periodic measurements of anion concentration in the air of main streets major citiessuch as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Munich, Sydney, Dublin, Paris, Zurich, showed a deplorable result: at noon - from 50 to 200 per 1 cubic centimeter, which is two to four times less than the norm.
The normal ratio of negative to positive ions should be 1.5 (60% anions account for 40% cations).
However, the ionic balance in cities does not meet this requirement. Positive ions prevail, affecting our well-being and vitality.
By the way, the balance of ions was disrupted in the XX century due to the processes of industrialization and urbanization.
Why is ionic imbalance dangerous?
With an excess of cations, health worsens, we may experience insomnia, nausea, migraine, irritation, stress, depression, frustration
functions of the thyroid gland and other problems described above.
Ionic sensitivity is individual... The most sensitive to ionic imbalance are women, children, people with poor health and those under stress, and the elderly.
Summary
In the light of the above, we will supplement the well-known phrase: "Man is what he eats and breathes." Our general health, body resistance and life expectancy depend on the quality of the atmosphere.
Positive and negative ions are markers of the air we breathe and how we feel. If you have insomnia, fatigue, nervousness and live in a city, pay attention to what you breathe.
Clean air rich in anions!
Preparing:
- The healing effect of negative ions
- Overview of ionizing generators
- Why go barefoot
- Why ozone is dangerous
Elena Valve for the Sleepy Cantata project
Ions (from the Greek ion - going), electrically charged particles formed as a result of the loss or addition of one or more electrons (or other charged particles) to an atom, molecule, radical or other ion. Positively charged ions are called cations, negatively charged ions are called anions. The term was proposed by M. Faraday in 1834.
Ions are designated by a chemical symbol with an index located at the top right. The index indicates the sign and magnitude of the charge, i.e. the multiplicity of the ion, in units of the electron charge. When an atom loses or gains 1, 2, 3 ... electrons, one-, two- and three-charged ions are formed, respectively (see Ionization), for example, Na +, Ca 2+, Al 3+, Cl -, SO 4 2 -.
Atomic ions are also denoted by the chemical symbol of the element with Roman numerals indicating the multiplicity of the ion, in this case the Roman numerals are spectroscopic symbols and their value is greater than the value of the charge per unit, i.e. NI means a neutral atom N, the designation of an ion NII means a singly charged ion N +, NIII means N 2+.
The sequence of ions of different chemical elementscontaining the same number electrons, forms an isoelectronic series.
Ions can be part of the molecules of substances, forming molecules due to ionic bonds. In the form of independent particles, in an unbound state, ions are found in all states of aggregation - in gases (in particular, in the atmosphere), in liquids (in melts and in solutions), in crystals. In liquids, depending on the nature of the solvent and solute, ions can exist for an infinitely long time, for example, the Na + ion in an aqueous solution of sodium chloride NaCl. Solid state salts usually form ionic crystals. The crystal lattice of metals consists of positively charged ions, inside which there is an "electron gas". The interaction energy of atomic ions can be calculated using various approximate methods that take into account the interatomic interaction.
The formation of ions occurs during the ionization process. To remove an electron from a neutral atom or molecule, it is necessary to expend a certain energy, which is called the ionization energy. The ionization energy referred to the charge of an electron is called the ionization potential. The electron affinity is the opposite of the ionization energy and shows the value of the binding energy of an additional electron in a negative ion.
Neutral atoms and molecules are ionized under the action of quanta of optical radiation, X-ray and g-radiation, electric field when colliding with other atoms, particles, etc.
In gases, ions are formed mainly by the impact of high-energy particles or by photoionization by ultraviolet, X-rays, and g-rays (see Ionizing radiation). The ions formed in this way are short-lived under normal conditions. At high temperatures, the ionization of atoms and ions (thermal ionization, i.e., thermal dissociation with the separation of an electron) can also occur as an equilibrium process in which the degree of ionization increases with increasing temperature and decreasing pressure. In this case, the gas transforms into a plasma state.
Ions in gases play an important role in many phenomena. IN natural conditions ions are formed in the air under the action cosmic rays, solar radiation or electrical discharge (lightning). The presence of ions, their type and concentration affect many physical properties air, on its physiological activity.
And he - a monatomic or polyatomic electrically charged particle of a substance formed as a result of the loss or attachment of one or more electrons by an atom in a molecule.
The charge of an ion is a multiple of the charge of an electron. The concept and term "ion" was introduced in 1834 by Michael Faraday, who, studying the action electric current on aqueous solutions acids, alkalis and salts, suggested that the electrical conductivity of such solutions is due to the movement of ions. Positively charged ions moving in a solution to the negative pole (cathode), Faraday called cations, and negatively charged, moving to the positive pole (anode) - anions.
The properties of ions are determined by:
1) the sign and magnitude of their charge;
2) the structure of ions, that is, the arrangement of electrons and the strength of their bonds, and the external electrons are especially important;
3) their sizes, determined by the radius of the orbit of the outer electron.
4) the strength of the electron shell (deformability of ions).
In the form of independent particles, ions are found in all aggregate states of matter: in gases (in particular, in the atmosphere), in liquids (in melts and solutions), in crystals and in plasma (in particular, in interstellar space).
Being chemically active particles, ions enter into reactions with atoms, molecules and with each other. In solutions, ions are formed as a result of electrolytic dissociation and determine the properties of electrolytes.
The number of elementary electric charges of ions in solutions almost always coincides with the valence of a given atom or group; gas ions can have a different number of elementary charges. Under the influence of sufficiently energetic influences (high temperature, high-frequency radiation, high-speed electrons), positive ions with different numbers of electrons, up to bare nuclei, can be formed. Positive ions are indicated by a + (plus) or dot (for example, Mg ***, Al +++), negative ions - (minus) or "(Cl -, Br"). The number of signs indicates the number of excess elementary charges. Most often, ions are formed with stable outer electron shells corresponding to the shell noble gases... The ions from which the crystals are built, and the ions found in solutions and solvents with high dielectric constants, belong for the most part to this type, for example, alkali and alkaline earth metals, halides, etc. However, there are also so-called. transition ions, in which the outer shells contain from 9 to 17 electrons; these ions can pass relatively easily into ions of a different type and significance (for example, Fe - -, Cu ", etc.).
Chemical and physical properties
The chemical and physical properties of ions differ sharply from the properties of neutral atoms, recalling in many respects the properties of atoms of other elements, which have the same number of electrons and the same outer electron shell (for example, K "resembles Ar, F" —Ne). Simple ions, as shown by wave mechanics, are spherical. The sizes of ions are characterized by the magnitude of their radii, which can be determined empirically from the data of X-ray analysis of crystals (Goldschmidt) or calculated theoretically by methods of wave mechanics (Pauliig) or statistics (Fermi). The results obtained by both methods are in satisfactory agreement. A number of properties of crystals and solutions are determined by the radii of the ions of which they are composed; in crystals, these properties are energy crystal lattice and pretty much her type; in solutions, ions polarize and attract solvent molecules, forming shells of variable composition; this polarization and the strength of the bond between ions and solvent molecules are determined almost exclusively by the radii and charges of the ions. How strong the effect of the field of ions on solvent molecules is is shown by calculations by Zwicky, who found that water molecules are near ions under a pressure of about 50,000 atm. The strength (deformability) of the outer electron shell depends on the degree of binding of the outer electrons and mainly determines the optical properties of the ions (chromaticity, refraction). However, the color of ions is also associated with the formation of ions of various compounds with solvent molecules. Theoretical calculations of the effects associated with the deformation of electron shells are more difficult and less endowed than calculations of the interaction forces between ions. The reasons for the formation of ions in solutions are not exactly known; the most plausible is the opinion that the molecules of soluble substances are broken into ions by the molecular zero of the solvent; heteropolar, that is, crystals built from ions give, apparently, upon dissolution immediately ions. The value of the molecular field of the solvent is confirmed, as it were, by the parallelism between the value of the dielectric constant of the solvent, which is an approximate measure of the voltage of its molecular field, and the degree of dissociation (the Nernst-Thomson rule, experimentally confirmed by Walden). However, ionization also occurs in substances with small dielectric constants, but here mainly electrolytes dissolve, giving complex ionic ones. Complexes are sometimes formed from ions of a dissolving substance, sometimes the solvent also takes part in their formation. For substances with low dielectric constants, the formation of complex ions is also characteristic when adding non-electrolytes, for example, (C 2 H 5) 0Br 3 gives, when mixed with chloroform, a conductive
system. Outward sign formation of complex ions is the so-called. abnormal electrical conductivity, at which a graph showing the dependence of molar electrical conductivity on dilution gives a maximum in the region of concentrated solutions and a minimum — with further dilution.
Nomenclature According to the chemical nomenclature, the name of the cation consisting of one atom coincides with the name of the element, for example, Na + is called the sodium ion, sometimes a charge is added in parentheses, for example, the name of the Fe 2+ cation is iron (II) -ion. The name consists of one atom anion formed from the root of the Latin name of the element and the suffix " -id / -id", For example, F is called fluoride ion.