Sharper Image settles lawsuit over air devices

Sharper Image Corp. settled a class-action lawsuit with 3.2 million buyers of its Ionic Breeze device, which the company sells as an air purifier.

Machines will be tested to ensure that they meet industry standards concerning ozone emissions, advertisements will be changed and anyone who bought the product after May 6, 1999, will get $19 in merchandise credit at Sharper Image stores, the San Francisco-based company said in a regulatory filing.

The lawsuit claimed that the devices didn’t clean the air and might produce unhealthy levels of ozone. Sharper Image said it included a filter on new Ionic Breeze devices to convert ozone into oxygen. Under the settlement, the filters will be available at a reduced cost to people whose machines lack them.