Is ozone good or bad?
Often it’s a surprise to people to discover that ozone gas can be good and bad. Ozone is an important gas in urban pollution monitoring, as well as a gas used in industrial processes. Learn more.
We have created a short video that explains the two faces of ozone in a way that is quick and easy to understand.
Good Ozone
In the atmosphere good ozone protects us from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Many people know about the hole in the ozone layer that was created by humankind’s use of CFCs. Thankfully CFCs are now banned and the ozone layer hole is shrinking.
Bad Ozone
At ground level in urban environments bad ozone is created by the reaction of urban pollution and sunlight. Photochemical smog is the technical term for this conversion process. In this way ozone becomes a powerful urban pollutant with negative health effects.
Uses of Ozone
Lesser known is that ozone is very useful gas for cleaning and sterilizing. Bacteria and odor can be broken down by ozone gas. It is often used in the food industry. For example, for sterilizing fruit and vegetables. It has been used in water treatment plants for many years. Generating ozone in enclosed spaces can expose people to ozone gas. For example, when machinery leaks. So although ozone is useful it is also important that its use is controlled especially when there are people around.
Health Issues
Breathing even small amounts of ozone can be harmful. Symptoms include: coughing, shortness of breath, and aggravation of lung diseases like asthma. At higher concentrations you can smell ozone, but it becomes harmful even at lower doses. For that reason many countries have set an exposure limit of 100 ppb (parts per billion) ozone. In some countries, like Sweden, the limit is set even lower. Ozone is one of six common pollutants limited by the United States Environmental Protection Agencies and other environmental regulators. Exposure to ozone in the workplace is controlled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and their counterparts around the world.
How to Measure Ozone Levels
So measuring and monitoring ozone is important for human health – outdoors and indoors. The problem is that the equipment for measuring ozone is either a) accurate but too expensive, or b) affordable but not accurate. Which is why Aeroqual came up with option C: monitors that are both accurate and affordable.
Enjoy the video, we hope it’s answered the question – is ozone good or bad?. Be sure to contact us to talk to us about your application.