Ozone: favorable or harmful?

2000/09/20 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Klima

Like many other things, it depends on where and how much. We all know that the ozone layer present in the stratosphere is necessary to protect it from solar ultraviolet radiation. But ozone is a very oxidizing molecule and its presence in a medium that exceeds a certain concentration of ozone is harmful to living beings. For plants, the first limit is set at 0.65 ppm and for humans at 0.1 ppm.

In the troposphere, that is, in the part of the atmosphere in which we live, concentration is much lower than in the stratosphere, but under certain conditions this concentration can rise considerably. The appearance of ozone in areas of high pollution and in stations of long periods of time, due to photochemical reactions, can cause health problems. For this reason, in recent years, just as the concentration of other pollutants in the atmosphere is measured, the ozone concentration is also measured.

However, ozone is used to ventilate in offices, bars and other closed places. Being very oxidizing, it is suitable to eliminate bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microorganisms and to eliminate odors. Ozonators are used for this purpose. As a bleach, it is also used in cleaning water and food and in medicine.