Here's why you might be having trouble ordering an air purifier from Amazon

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Smoke and haze from wildfires hovers over the skyline Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in San Francisco. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history.

Smoke from wildfires fills the morning air in a view of San Francisco through the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in San Francisco.

A woman wears a respirator mask on Market St. in San Francisco on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017.

A woman wears a respirator mask on Market St. in San Francisco on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017.

A man wears a respirator mask on Market St. in San Francisco on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017.

This story has been updated.

Facing some difficulty in ordering an air purifier as smoke from the Wine Country fires looms outside? You're not alone.

Dozens of Bay Area locals hit social media over the past week to report struggles in purchasing a purifier. Some posted photos of an Amazon.com order screen reading, "This item cannot be shipped to your selected location."

EXPERT ADVICE: Best air purifiers for the money, reviewed

The reason locals are seeing an error message may not be be Amazon's fault. The sale of the model might actually be prohibited by the Air Resources Board, a state agency that enforces air pollution laws.

Logistics fail by @amazon ... Filter for air purifiers that can "arrive tomorrow" but then errors: can't ship to that address :( #Wildfires pic.twitter.com/TCzgXsnJ1r

In October 2010, the state of California banned the sale of some ozone-generating air purifiers, citing research suggesting that they can emit relatively substantional amounts of the powerful lung irritant. (While you may have heard that the stratosphere's ozone layer is helpful in shielding the Earth from ultraviolet radiation, it's dangerous at ground level.)

RELATED: Where to buy respirator masks in San Francisco and Oakland

As a result, such purifiers can only be used in industrial settings within the state.

Safer air purifiers are still legal within the state, but they must be ARB-certified. The ARB website has a list of such legal air purifiers on their site.

3M, Bionaire, Black & Decker, Honeywell, Oreck, Sharp and Whirlpool are among the many certified brands of air purifiers. Air-Zone, Biozone, Crystal Air, Prozone and Rainbow Air have models that appear on a list of "potentially hazardous ozone generators" that cannot be sold in California.

UPDATE: Some California readers have been reporting that they have been trying to order ARB-certified models from Amazon, but they are receiving the same error message.

ARB has issued the following statement: "Amazon, unfortunately, has had problems shipping some CARB-approved air purifiers (we are aware of others that Amazon isn't shipping) so until Amazon addresses this error, consumers may opt for another company to purchase from."

Amazon has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at [email protected] or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.