(AP) - SAN FRANCISCO-Consumer Reports magazine is taking renewed aim at a popular air purifier made by The Sharper Image two months after it fended off a libel lawsuit filed by the machine's retailer.
The magazine reports in its latest issue hitting newsstands Tuesday that Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze Quadra Silent Air Purifier and four other similar machines fail to significantly clean the air - but also release potentially unhealthy levels of ozone.
The article is being published two months after San Francisco-based Sharper Image agreed to pay the magazine's publisher, Consumers Union, $525,000 in legal costs after a judge dismissed its libel suit. The failed lawsuit alleged that earlier magazine articles highly critical of the Ionic Breeze's ability to reduce airborne particles were false and malicious.
Ouch! The new article recommends against buying the $350 machines. Details here from the AP via Findlaw.com.