Lenard (1915) found that when water is atomized (e.g. on impact of a water droplet), negative and positive charges are separated.

Molecules which are torn from the surface of the water bear a negative charge (small negative ions) whereas large drops or the entire mass of water are positive.

This provided an unexpected explanation for the refreshing, invigorating effect of residences close to a waterfall or spring, or even after rain.

Some of these reactions which improve well-being and physical and mental capacity have since become known.

1. Negative ions accelerate the oxidative degradation serotonin whereas positive ions have the opposite action and inactivate the enzymes which break down serotonin.

2. An increase in the serotonin level (5-hydroxytryptamine) produces

   • tachycardia,

   • a rise in blood pressure,

   • bronchospasm going as far as asthma attack,

   • increased intestinal peristalsis (contractions and dilations of the intestines to move the contents onwards),

   • increased sensitivity to pain,

   • increased aggression.

3. A decrease in the serotonin level is calming and increases defenses against infection (as proven with influenza 'the flu').

4. Negative ions produce an increase in hemoglobin/oxygen affinity so that the partial oxygen pressure in the blood rises but the partial carbon dioxide pressure decreases. This results in reduced respiratory rate and enhances the metabolism of water-soluble vitamins.

In addition, negative ions produce an increase in PH and, in particular, an increase in the secretory performance of the mucosa with an increase in ciliary movement in the airways.

According to the studies of Fleischer and Pantlitschko, negative ions probably also improve blood flow by increasing the release of proteolytic enzymes with fibrinolytic activity. Wordens studied the adrenals of golden hamsters kept under the same experimental conditions. The adrenals of animals treated with positive ions weighed 33% less than the adrenals of animals treated with normal respiratory air.

On the other hand, the weight of the adrenals from golden hamsters treated with negative ions was 29% higher. Olivereau found a 30% enlargement of adrenals in rats after 20 days of treatment with negative ions. This finding suggests that the ability of the adrenals to produce glucocorticoids is reduced by positive ions and increased by negative ions.

Considerable increase in vital capacity were observed by M.A. Vytchikova and A. Minkh in 1959, with the maintenance of blood sugar and blood oxygen levels. Thus, in a group of 9 sports students, Minkh found that ergometer endurance was increased by 260% in 32 days compared with a normal control group following the inhalation for 15 minutes daily of air enriched with 1.5 million negative small ions per centimeter.

Even before the 1976 Olympics, air ionization in the sleeping quarters of team members was used to improve performance in sports centres in the USSR and the GDR [M. Jokl, Prague]. Studies by Altmann in 1975 clearly show that the performance of school children can, for example, be considerably increased by changing the electrical conditions of the rooms. Comparable effects have also been achieved by the use of ionized AIR.

According to the latest information in the fields of medicine, biology and meteorology, it can be definitively established that atmospheric ions have a biological effect. Atmospheric electrical factors are a component of our environment and we humans are clearly affected by electro-ionic microclimates to a far greater extent than previously imagined.

This finding acquires particular significance since, as a result of artificial air conditioning (e.g. atmospheric pollution, buildings, air-conditioning units, heating, electrical installations, plastics), civilized man spends 50-100% of his time in an unnaturally charged electroclimate. In cities, in closed rooms and in cars, etc., the proportion of small negative ions in the atmosphere is markedly reduced compared with undisturbed nature.

An atmosphere with an excess of negative ions, such as frequently arise under open sky, usually induces a complete vegetative turn-around within twenty days. In the curative phase of this total turn-around, the vegetative nervous system is normally restored and the course of infectious diseases is essentially attenuated (weakened) and (healing is) accelerated.

Vangard notes... The information in this paper provides more than sufficient evidence that negative ion generators can only be a good investment. The small decorative water fountains which cascade or spray are not only visually appealing, but also provide the pleasing sound of moving water. Now with the explanation of the negative charge from the rupturing of the water molecule, we can see how the atomizing process is a highly desirable effect to bring about.