Do plasma globes generate ozone? My kids and I were playing with a small plasma globe like this:



After touching it we all noted a faint smell like that created by other high voltage static discharges, which I always understood to be the smell of ozone.

So I guess this is actually two questions:


Is the smell associated with static electric discharge in fact ozone?
Do plasma globes like this create ozone?


(Presumably if the answer is "yes" then it would not be a good idea to leave one of these operating for an extended period in a closed space like a child's bedroom!)
Plasma globes do indeed produce small quantities of ozone when they are touched.
This is because the high-voltage within the globe is at very high frequency and this can drive high kinetic-energy electrons through the glass to produce ozone generating micro-discharges at your fingertips.
Nox generation is highly unlikely at the low energies used.