Ozone
is nature’s way of cleaning the environment
Ozone is not smog. Listen to the news and you’ll
think ozone is air pollution or smog. It is not either
one. The name "ozone" is derived from the Greek
word "ozein" which means "to smell".
Ozone is a bluish, water-soluble gas with a distinctive
smell. It made of three atoms of oxygen and occurs naturally
in nature. It is formed when oxygen and ultraviolet light
interact high in the stratosphere.
Oxygen, released from plants and sea plankton during photosynthesis,
continually rises to the upper atmosphere to where the
ozone layer is. There the sun changes O2 to O3 or ozone.
The using up of the UV rays to create ozone is how the
ozone layer shields us from the rays’ harmful effects.
Being heavier than oxygen, this newly created ozone falls
back to earth. Because it is very unstable, O3 will quickly
give up one atom of oxygen, which attaches itself to pollutants
or contaminants and oxidizes them. After oxidizing substances,
it simply reverts to O2 or oxygen, the most important
element on earth. Ozone’s job is to purify our air
and water. Ozone is one of the most powerful destroyers
of viruses and bacteria found in nature. It also destroys
molds, yeasts, and most odors. In nature ozone is created
by waterfalls, the ocean’s surf, and during thunder
and lightning storms. It is the fresh smell of laundry
dried outside, the fresh air at the seashore, or the sweet
smell after an electrical storm.
The fact that ozone readily gives off a single oxygen
atom is a significant factor in life, in medical therapies,
and in toxic waste technology. Ozone combines with the
lower atmosphere’s toxic chemicals given off by automobiles,
trucks, buses, utility industries, and other noxious gases
to neutralize them. But when ozone is overpowered by these
chemicals, it becomes a tiny part of the hazy brown smog
of toxic gases you can see.
It is inaccurate to blame our environmental problems on
ozone. Ozone is simply pure activated oxygen and is nature’s
way of cleaning our environment, while smog and air pollution
are man-made and are extremely toxic to the human body.
