Is Ozone Smog?

What is smog? Is ozone smog? The simple answer is no, ozone is not smog. Ozone is three oxygen molecules that near earth is created when man made pollutants and sunlight is present, thus, mother nature creates ozone to oxidize the man made pollutants and clean the air. Ozone is created when hydrocarbons, VOC’s, and nitrous oxides mostly from old trucks, buses, and factories split oxygen in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight to create ozone. In layman’s terms, ozone “down low” is mother natures attempt to remove man made pollutants, not pollution in and of itself. Here is what the EPA has said in the past about cars, ozone, and smog:

“Ozone is not emitted directly but is formed in the atmosphere through a complex set of chemical reactions involving hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and sunlight. The rate at which the reactions proceed is related to both temperature and intensity of the sunlight. Because of this, problematic ozone levels occur most frequently on hot summer afternoons. Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides come from a great variety of industrial and combustion processes. In typical urban areas, at least half of those pollutants come from cars, buses, trucks, and off-highway mobile sources such as construction vehicles and boats. In fact, a major portion of ozone-forming hydrocarbons can be attributed to a relatively small number of super-dirty cars whose emission control systems are not working properly.”

One must ask themselves why ozone is called "problematic" and not hydrocarbons, VOC’s, and nitrous oxides? Ozone is a clear gas. Smog on the other hand appears as a dirty, brown, fog-like substance. Can it be that ozone is being made the scapegoat here and that hydrocarbons, VOC’s, and nitrous oxides that come from mostly older vehicles and factories are in fact the real culprits?

What does indeed seem to be problematic is the fact that about two out of three big rigs and buses on the road today are pre 1994 and exempt from emission controls. Anyone who has ever found themselves behind an older bus at a traffic light and seen the large, billowing dark clouds of exhaust that fill the air when the light turns green knows exactly what smog looks and smells like.

Another serious health issue that affects our children is associated with the lack of emission control devices on most older school buses. A majority of school buses nationwide are over 10 years old. Those older busses emit serious levels of pollution and if that weren't bad enough, many of those older school buses have exhaust systems that leak into the cabin. Many of our children are thus exposed to very serious health consequences day after day. Children who spend an hour a day or more in older exhaust filled buses are many times more likely to develop asthma and other serious health conditions.

Why is this serious, national health issue or the real causes of smog hardly ever brought to light by the major media? The likely reason is money. Big business wields a lot of power and has the ears of most politicians in Washington. The solution to the smog or the old school bus problem is not cheap. Nobody seems willing or able to pay the bill. What about raising taxes to fix these problems? Raising taxes, even for venerable programs, is not popular with voters. Vilification of ozone or ozone producing air purifiers on the other hand is a cheap and an effective PR tool by the powers that be.

Does ozone have any benefits? Yes, many. Ozone generators are essential for smoke and odor remediation projects. Ozone is also used by the food industry to keep food from spoiling. Furthermore, ozone is used my most municipal water districts to purify the water. In Germany, over 6.5 million doses of ozone have been administered (and over 600 studies conducted) to treat and cure everything from cancer to AIDS with medicinal ozone. There are reports of only 30 adverse results, mostly from improper administration. That would make ozone by far safer than any drug or medication we have on the market today to treat cancer or serious illness. One such ozone therapy is an “ozone sauna.” A plastic body bag that covers everything but the head is fitted with an ozone generator inside that will produce several hundred milligrams of ozone per hour. Within an hour, most of that ozone will be absorbed through the skin and then enter the blood where it will attacks cancer cells, chemicals, and any foreign substance that shouldn’t be there. (Cancer is anaerobic and cannot exist in the presence of oxygen) One then can then speculate that the medicinal use of ozone is yet another motive for the vilification of ozone producing air purifiers given the size and strength of U.S. pharmaceutical drug companies and their lobbying power. Here is what BiologyNews.net had to say recently on the subject of medicinal ozone:

"In fact numerous effective cancer cures have been brought forth over the years, yet they never seem to get to market. This is especially true for ozone therapy, which was started in Germany in 1892, and came to the US in 1898. Since this therapy precedes the formation of the FDA, and happens to be one of the safest therapies on the market, under the law it has a grand fathered approval status. Yet the FDA routinely violates the law by jailing those who perform ozone therapy. Chemically ozone destroys cancer through multiple mechanisms. First of all malignant tumors lack the protective antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxides, selenium methionine peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase, which protect healthy cells. When ozone reacts with the lipid membrane of the cells a lipid peroxide is formed. Hydrogen peroxide is also formed by the reaction of ozone with water. These peroxides enter in to all cells. The antioxidant enzymes in the healthy cells break down the peroxides in to water and oxygen. Cancer cells on the other hand cannot break down these peroxides, thus these cells swell up and burst. Secondly the peroxides stimulate white blood cell activity. In fact NK (natural killer) cells use peroxide in the same manner to kill cancer cells. Ozone, being a strong oxidizer, kills cancer microbes, and carcinogens, such as xenoestrogens. As far as safety goes, a study done in Germany followed over 6.5 million doses of ozone given for therapy. There were slightly over 30 adverse reactions reported, mostly due to improper administration. Therefore, no therapy can match effectiveness and safety of ozone for cancer treatment."

Based on past research, mostly in Germany, it seems that countless lives could be saved with ozone therapy. Countless lives could definitely be saved if emissions controls were required for all vehicles, regardless of age. We have to ask ourselves, if we can put a man on the moon, why then can we not engineer emissions controls for older engines? The fact of the matter is that we could create emissions controls for all engines but nobody is going to invent or manufacture emissions controls for older vehicles when they are not currently required by law. There you have the problems and the solutions to the smog problem. Make emissions controls a requirement for all vehicles and factories regardless of age! What about the problems posed by the special interest groups that lobby against emissions controls and medicinal ozone that would ultimately cost major industry billions of dollars? For that problem, there exists only one solution. Knowledge and information. Educating the masses is the first step in righting wrongs and in winning the hearts of any society. When we the people stand united on these subject, change will come, and we'll all be able to breath a collective sigh of relief.