Air Pollution Talk

Ground-level ozone can harm the environment, crops, and human health. If you already have asthma and bronchitis, exposure to ground-level ozone can make symptoms a lot worse. Because high levels of ground-level ozone can make it difficult to breath deeply, even normal healthy people can experience coughing and throat irritation. In some cases, it and even damage the lining of your lungs.

People with chronic lung conditions such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis may be more sensitive to the effects of ozone. Ozone can also have a greater impact on the health of children and adults who are physically active outdoors when ozone levels are high. So limit your activities outdoors during those periods, especially for asthma patients, young children and pregnant women.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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Ozone is a gas that is naturally found in earth’s upper atmosphere, where it forms the ozone layer. The ozone layer blocks some of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.

While Ozone layer protects us from getting all the UV rays, ground-level ozone is a pollutant that can harm the environment, crops, and human health. It is ozone in the lower atmosphere, close to the Earth’s surface. This is one of the main components of smog. Ground-level ozone is formed when sunlight and heat cause chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds .

Volatile organic compounds are pollutants released by motor vehicles, factories and power plants, and chemicals such as paints and cleaners. Since we live in a modern world and we are exposed to all these wherever we go.

Source: Department of Health and Human Services.