Effect of negative air ionization on hyperactive and autistic children.

Twenty-one attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity and seven autistic children were randomly exposed to negatively ionized and ambient atmospheres under rigorously controlled experimental conditions. The negatively ionized condition did not significantly affect measurements of activity level, impulsivity, reality orientation, destructive/constructiveness, attention, or task performance. Significant results might be obtained if subgroups of known hyperserotoninemic autistic and attention deficit disorder children were exposed to negatively ionized conditions.