What Is The IHSA Certification for Hydrogen Water Machines?

How Certification Works

Businesses can have their hydrogen water machines certified through an association of their choosing. Each association will have its own set of standards that will need to be met. This usually entails passing a safety test against contaminants, achieving a pH level that is defined by the association, and reaching a therapeutic amount of hydrogen. (1)

What Is the IHSA?

To protect people from faulty hydrogen-enriched water pouches, machines, and tablets, hydrogen science experts from all over the world came together to create the International Hydrogen Standards Association (IHSA). Together, these experts defined standards to ensure that the hydrogen products being sold are capable of creating therapeutic benefits. (2)

The IHSA standards are based on years of research and hydrogen therapy developments. Since new studies are always being published, the standards are subject to change. This means that the IHSA is constantly making sure that their standards are keeping pace with the latest hydrogen therapy discoveries. (2)

Machines that are certified by the IHSA can: 

Generate at Least 0.5 ppm of Hydrogen Gas

Parts per million (ppm) is a measurement that helps you identify how much of a chemical makes up an entire solution (usually in reference to water). (3) 

As a general rule, the IHSA stated that 0.5 ppm is the minimal amount of hydrogen gas needed to achieve therapeutic benefits. At that amount, you can begin to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress that leads to major diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Although this is the minimum therapeutic amount, you may need to increase the amount of hydrogen infused into your water depending on your current health, weight, diet, and other related variables. (4)

The IHSA stays up to date with the most efficient methods for testing hydrogen concentration (5). Currently they use gas chromatography(GC), which is the most accurate method used to test ppm. It works by separating the different components of a mixture that can be vaporized using heat and then analyzes the purity of those components. With hydrogen-enriched water, gas chromatography is able to separate the amount of dissolved hydrogen from the contents of the water and measure the ppm. (6)

This is how the process works. When hydrogen gas is injected into your drinking water, the gas passes through a tube (called a column). It then goes through a thermal conductivity detector (TCD), where it influences the electrical characteristics of a Wheatstone bridge made of tungsten filaments. These characteristics, or responses, are small but measurable. A change in voltage drop in the filaments will be proportional to the amount of hydrogen in the test sample. By comparing the electrical response to the standard electrical response, gas chromatography can help determine the hydrogen ppm concentration of the sample. (6)

Have a pH Level Between 5 and 9.5

According to the IHSA, hydrogen therapy products must have an acceptable pH or pH range. This standard is dependent on the type of product (i.e., packaged, specialty beverage, and generator device). For devices that generate hydrogen-enriched water, the IHSA accepts a pH anywhere between 5 to 9.5. (7)

At Synergy Science™, we recommend drinking hydrogen-enriched water with no pH change. Why? When you change the pH of your water, you can inadvertently change the pH of your stomach. Alkaline water can alter the pH of your stomach and cause health issues like metabolic alkalosis (8). Acidic water can also be dangerous because it naturally carries heavy metals that, when drunk, can cause nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting (9). For this reason, the Echo Antioxidant Water™ Machines are designed to deliver high amounts of molecular hydrogen without changing your water’s pH. 

Pass Safety Tests

Contaminants, toxins, and heavy metals are always finding ways into our water. That is why the IHSA requires safety tests that analyze the presence of the following substances (10): 

• Heavy metals: Titanium, aluminum, antimony, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, gold, platinum, arsenic, copper, manganese, lead, and iron.
• Toxins: Chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and cyanide.
• Contaminants: Calcium and magnesium hardness, fluoride, and sodium. 

Get the Best With the Echo Antioxidant Water™ Machine Line

Looking for a hydrogen water machine that surpasses all of these standards? Echo Antioxidant Water™ Machines nearly triple the 0.5 ppm standard. Each product also passes the pH and safety tests with flying colors. Don’t just take our word for it though; check out the IHSA results of each machine: 

Echo Go™

The 3-minute cycle produces 1.23 ppm, and the 10-minute cycle produces 1.88 ppm with no pH change. It successfully passed the safety test for contaminants, toxins, and heavy metals.

Echo H2 Machine™

Produces an average of 1.59 ppm with no pH change. It successfully passed the safety test for contaminants, toxins, and heavy metals.

Echo H2 Pitcher™

The 10-minute cycle produces 1.48 ppm, and the 20-minute cycle produces 1.75 ppm with no pH change. It successfully passed the safety test for contaminants, toxins, and heavy metals.

Echo Ultimate™

Produces an average of 1.65 ppm. The Antioxidant Water™ option has no pH change. It successfully passed the safety test for contaminants, toxins, and heavy metals.

Echo Server™

Produces an average of 1.53 ppm with no pH change. It successfully passed the safety test for contaminants, toxins, and heavy metals.

Get the Antioxidants You Need, Faster and More Effectively

Hydrogen is a powerful antioxidant that selectively targets free radicals that can lead to serious inflammation and oxidative stress in your body. The amount of antioxidants in hydrogen-enriched water far exceeds that of any food. It’s also a much easier way to get the 8,000 to 11,000 oxidation-reduction potential units (ORP) your body needs each day. (11)

Get Over 40 Health Benefits

See any benefits you like? Antioxidant Water™ can give you all of these benefits and more! 

• Boost brain function
• Boost oral health
• Combat asthma
• Combat metabolic syndrome
• Make it easier to recover after a workout
• Help you recover quicker from a transplant 
• Help maintain a healthy heart
• Help nasal allergies
• Improve behavioral and mood disorders
• Improve cognitive function
• Improve the symptoms of high blood pressure
• Increase energy
• Increase ghrelin production
• Lessen the effects of aging
• Protect your hearing
• Reduce acne and other skin issues

Are you in the market for an Echo hydrogen water Machine? Check out our website and find an opinion that’s perfect for you!