Why Would I Want a Salt Lamp?

I’ve increasingly seen “salt lamps” in stores and catalogs. Why would I want one of these?

People love hearing about salt lamps when I give talks, and how crystalline salt helps to increase negative ions. The feeling generated by negative ions is one you find at the ocean, or in the high you experience in the midst of a big storm, or near a big waterfall. Positive ions, on the other hand, are full of pollution. Learn how to benefit.

Yosemite Falls has a negative ion count of over 100,000 per cubic centimeter. Fresh, country air has a negative ion count of around 2,000 to 4,000 per cubic centimeter. Los Angeles during rush hour has a negative ion count of around 100 per cubic centimeter. Humans respond most positively to a ratio of 2 negative ions to 1 positive ion, but such a ratio is rare at best.

Salt lamps provide a simple, natural way to increase the negative ions in your home.

Crystalline salt is a natural air ionizer that boosts the negative ions in the air. Tests show that lit salt crystal lamps improve the ratio of negative ions to our environment. The heated salt crystal pulls water molecules from the air to its surface, the salt goes into the solution of the water, neutralizes any positive ions (and the attached pollution), and emits the neutralized molecule back into the environment.

Most common negative-ion generators incorporate electrostatic technology to produce ions. But many think they stop working after two or three months because the fine-tipped metallic needles become blunted and stop working.

Natural salt lamps are made from salt mined from deep within the Earth and it naturally occurs in white to coral colors. Many salt lamps are from crystals mined in the Himalayas.