The Good and Bad of Ozone

Ozone is produced when three instead of two oxygen atoms (O3) combines. Its an unstable and highly reactive form of Oxygen. From our perspective, Ozone is both useful and harmful for us.


Benefits of Ozone

• Ozone is found in Stratosphere which is part of the earth's upper atmosphere. At that level, Ozone helps us immensely by absorbing the extremely dangerous ultra-violet ray of the sun.
• Without Ozone we would have turned sick as soon as we came in contact with our skin. We would have got skin cancer, cataract etc. our crops would have been damaged. And it would have killed specific marine life.

Risks of Ozone

• The man-made Ozone that forms in the troposphere is extremely toxic and corrosive.
• people who inhale Ozone during repeated exposure may permanently damage their lungs or suffer from respiratory infections.
• Ozone exposure may reduce lung function or aggravate respiratory condition like asthma, emphysema or bronchitis.
• Ozone may also cause chest pain and coughing.

Overall, its better to stay away from direct contact with Ozone in the atmosphere, because its as harmful as helpful Oxygen is.

Health hazards of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

Sulfur Dioxide is a moderate to strong irritant. Sulfur Dioxide when consumed, usually just penetrates the nose or throat, whereas it doesn't reach the lungs. Sulfur Dioxide only reaches lungs when a person is breathing heavily in chemical air filled with sulfur dioxide, or he is breathing it only through his mouth.
But when the sulfur dioxide concentration is extremely heavy in a particular closed space, SO2 can cause severe health diseases related to our lungs and air passage. Some such severe situations are-Hypoxemia, Pulmonary Edema and may even cause death in minutes. Severe exposure may cause permanent lung disease.
Skin contact with SO2 can cause irritation, liquid SO2 can cause burns due to freezing. Affected area will have numbness, prickling and itching. Blistering and Gangrene may occur. Exposure to SO2 without eye protection can cause severe corneal burns and could even damage the nerves in the eye. Sulfur Dioxide is one of those Oxygen compounds that are extremely harmful for human. One interesting fact about SO2 is that its the major component on the gas that is emitted from a volcano!!