The physical, chemical and biological effects by room temperature ceramic far-infrared ray emitting material irradiated water: A pilot study

Far infrared ray (FIR) is non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths of 4-16 μm. Ceramic far infrared ray emitting materials (cFIR) are sources of FIR that exhibit only non-thermal effects at room temperature. Certain physical, chemical and biological effects of cFIR irradiation were investigated in this study that heretofore has not been well characterized. We demonstrated that cFIR irradiation reduced the size of water clusters, and significantly increased the freezing temperature of water. We also observed an increase in the volatility of a complex mixture of alcohol, water and solutes and recorded elevated total phenol in green tea infusions prepared using cFIR irradiated water. The effects of cFIR irradiated water on living cells were also investigated. TheMC3T3-E1 murine osteoblast cells grown in the presence of cFIR irradiated water exhibited anti-oxidative effects on H ₂O ₂-mediated toxicity, as evidenced by late stage increase in intracellular alkaline phosphatase. The presence of cFIR irradiated water also resulted in significant decrease in COX-2 production in the chondrosarcoma cell line, SW1353, in response to lipopolysaccharide induction. Based on our findings, the possible anti-inflammatory effects of cFIR irradiated water and implications of our study with regard to bone and joint health were discussed.