Himalayan Salt Lamps and How They Help with Anxiety, Air Quality, Eczema and Insomnia …

THEY DON’T – SALT LAMPS DON’T DO SHIT

Salt lamps, which are merely light bulbs of varying wattages placed within blocks of rock salt of varying sizes, have become an increasingly popular product in the alternative medicine scene and are marketed as “natural ionizers.” An ionizer, in theory, produces ions, which are atoms or molecules with a net positive or negative charge caused by an uneven number of protons to electrons.

According to a popular (and representative) Facebook post about salt lamps, the product can positively affect your health in these diverse ways:

They emit “boundless amounts” of negative ions, which counter the positive ions that both surround us and make us feel bad. (Ions do not make you feel bad, you do)
Those ions increase oxygen flow to the brain which combats lethargy, gives you more energy, and causes you to be more alert and responsive to your surroundings. (if your brain requires more oxygen, your respirations will increase naturally)
The ions negate the “radioactive waves” or “electric smog” emitted by our electrical devices. (Ions do not affect radio waves at all. See if your radio operates near the lamp)
The ions offer protection from airborne toxins that could be floating around us. (Negative Ions could latch onto particulates and drop them rather than leave them suspended in air, however salt lamps don’t emit negative ions – Try an air cleaner)
The constant intake of negative ions makes your slumber less fitful, and helps you get more out of your rest. (It is unproven that ions affect you in such a way)
The ions lower high blood pressure, reducing the chance of heart attacks and strokes. (Pseudo-Science and dangerous claims at that!)
The salt that is used in these lamps, Himalayan salt, contains up to 84 trace minerals that your body needs, allowing the lamp to also strengthen your bone, regulate your body pH, and balance the water content in your body. (salt lamps don’t transfer shit via osmosis)

All the claims described above rely on the singularly false assertion that a block of salt with a light bulb inserted inside will naturally emit negative ions. That argument, when intelligible, usually invokes some sort of interplay between the salt, which attracts water from the air, and the heat from the light evaporating that water, as described in a non-peer-reviewed 2010 paper in the Pakistan Journal of Molecular Biology:

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