Plaintiff Ron Poznansky of San Francisco first saw an advertisement for Molekule’s air purifiers during the 2018 California wildfire season, when smoke often hung in the air, according to the class action lawsuit he recently filed against the company. Later, he visited the company’s website, and eventually, he bought a Molekule Air Mini for his home.
After owning the unit for a little more than two months, Poznansky filed a class action lawsuit for false advertising against Molekule, saying the air purifier did nothing to improve the quality of air in the room it was used.
Plaintiff Says Molekule Was Ineffective
The lawsuit for false advertising, filed June 11, 2020 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, says Poznansky bought the Molekule Air Mini model from Amazon.com for $432 on March 28. He made the purchase on the basis of specific claims the manufacturer made through marketing of its air purifier, the complaint says.
These claims included that it would clean indoor air better than any competing air purifier because of its proprietary photoelectrochemical oxidation filter; that it would eradicate all indoor air pollutants and airborne allergens, thereby relieving allergy symptoms; and that it would kill 99 percent of viruses.
Poznansky also alleged that Molekule had “tailored its advertising to capitalize on current events, claiming, for example, that the air purifiers would neutralize pollution caused by the wildfires and ‘destroy’ coronavirus.”
In fact, Molekule’s website says its unique filter has been “demonstrated to capture and destroy airborne viruses, including testing of proxy viruses for novel coronavirus … and influenza.” And while the units have not been tested on COVID-19, which is a strain of novel coronavirus, the Molekule air purifiers “meet the performance criteria recommended by the FDA guidelines for use in reducing exposure to (coronavirus) in healthcare settings.”
But soon after getting his Molekule Air Mini, Poznansky said it seemed to be having no impact on the air quality in the room he had it set up in.
The plaintiff owns an air quality sensor that measures particulate pollution, so he used it to test the air while the Molekule purifier was in operation. It failed “on every setting” to reduce the particulate count in the air, court documents claim.
Independent Reviews of Molekule’s Claims
Molekule’s advertising touts the unique photoelectrochemical oxidation technology employed by its air purifiers and claims it destroys gases, bacteria, viruses, and mold spores and relieves asthma and allergy symptoms among its users. Independent reviews of the units paint a different picture.
Wirecutter, one of two publications to test and review the Molekule devices, said it was ineffective in its guide to the best air purifiers on the market. “The Molekule turned in the worst performance on particulates of any purifier, of any size, of any price, that we have tested in the seven years that we have been producing this guide,” the testers wrote.
Meanwhile, consumer product powerhouse Consumer Reports conducted its own testing of the Molekule and said it’s not worth the money. The magazine’s chief scientific officer said the Molekule Air was “not proficient at catching larger airborne particles, which ultimately means it’s not getting enough air passing through the system.” The unit almost failed the standard regimen of testing Consumer Reports put it through, the magazine said.
Basis of Lawsuit for False Advertising
Aside from the product reviews, Molekule was dealt a blow by the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs, a nonprofit organization that promotes self-regulation, truth-in-advertising, and dispute resolution among industry competitors. In October 2019, the group found nearly all of Molekule’s advertising claims to be unsubstantiated after it reviewed the company’s marketing, testing, and product performance information.
The National Advertising Division’s investigation was launched after rival air purifier Dyson filed 26 claims of false advertising against Molekule. The organization upheld all 26 claims.
Poznansky cites the Wirecutter and Consumer Reports reviews of Molekule’s air purifiers and the National Advertising Division’s findings on false advertising in his lawsuit, arguing there are proof Molekule “engaged in a deceptive and misleading marketing campaign … based on false claims that it spread through its own website, social media, interviews with third-party publications, YouTube, and other(s) at the expense of consumers across the country and in violation of applicable law.”
The Molekule Class Action Lawsuit is Poznansky v. Molekule Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-03860 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Join a Free Molekule Air Purifier Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
Did you pay more for a Molekule Air, Molekule Air Mini, or Molekule Air Mini+ than you would have had you known the truth about the product? If so, you may be able to join this class action lawsuit investigation.
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