What Is Ozone Pollution?

To get to the truth about ozone pollution it might be best to start with finding out just what “ozone” is and just what “pollution” is. Then we can put the two together and look more closely at what is happening to the Earth’s atmosphere.

According to epa.gov, ozone is “a highly reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms.” There is stratospheric ozone that is “formed naturally through the interaction of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation with molecular oxygen. This layer of ozone starts at about six miles above the surface of the planet and extends to about 30 miles.

Another type of ozone, tropospheric, is located at the Earth’s surface and comes from “reactions between two major classes of air pollutants: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These reactions depend on the presence of heat and sunlight.” More tropospheric ozone forms in the summer due to the increase in heat and light.

So we have a good idea what ozone is. But what is pollution?

The simple answer is probably best for our purposes. Human activity causes water, soil and air to become “dirty.” This means these natural parts of our world begin to contain particles and items that weren’t meant to be there. The presence of these particles and items affects air, soil and water in a negative way, destroying organisms and changing the state of air, water and soil so that they can’t be used to sustain life.

So how do we put the two together and come up with the idea of ozone pollution?

Air pollution, as a general topic, includes too much carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and other compounds that are not conducive to good health and growth of living things. One of the pollutants being targeted for reduction is the ozone mentioned earlier. (At this point, we are not discussing the issue of destroying the ozone layer that exists miles above the Earth.)

The ozone pollution we are concerned with is the type that forms when the air changes after exposure to sunlight and heat. This is the tropospheric ozone that was covered in an earlier paragraph. While this type of ozone can actually be reduced by heavier concentrations of other pollutants in urban areas it may still have a significant effect on animal and plant life.

Among the effects uncovered in medical research are breathing difficulties (lungs, for example) and eyes (irritation, vision temporarily blurred etc.) In Europe, medical researchers have found incidents of asthma increased and cancer was more prevalent with increased levels of ozone.

It’s interesting to note that, in general terms, stratospheric ozone miles above the earth, actually protects us from many of the harmful sun rays that would otherwise reach us. But at ground level this form of oxygen can cause serious harm to living things. When certain organic compounds and nitrogen oxide gases react in particular ways, smog is created, thanks to heat and light from the sun. The chemical makeup of the air we breathe can become harmful.

Scientists have a much better understanding of ozone in general and ozone pollution in particular than they did a few years ago. But the research continues.

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