The most common place in our world to find ozone is the ozone layer. This is a natural and important part of our word. UV light will create ozone from atmospheric oxygen at short wavelengths of less than 240 Nanometers (nm). UV light will also destroy ozone and break ozone back down into atomic oxygen (O) and diatomic oxygen (O2) at wavelengths from about 200 nm to 315 nm. Therefore, the ozone layer does a great job filtering UV wavelengths from about 100 – 315 nm. This is important as these are the harmful wavelengths of UV light cause sunburn in humans, and DNA damage in living tissues.
The ozone is an important part of our worlds stratosphere. The level of ozone in the stratosphere ranges from 2 to 8 ppm in the ozone layer, therefore most of the atmospheric oxygen remains in the diatomic form (O2). Another element of pollution that is commonly discussed is the potential to disrupt this balance of ozone production and destruction via UV light in the stratosphere.
There are certain skin conditions that can be treated with UV radiation. With modern phototherapy, successful treatment of eczema, dermatitis, rickets, atopic and localized scleroderma, jaundice, psoriasis, and vitiligo is now possible.