What makes ozone

Such concentrations occur in or near cities during periods where the atmosphere is warm and stable. The harmful effects can include throat and lung irritation or aggravation of asthma or emphysema. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Goddard Space Flight Center. Topics What is Ozone? What is a Dobson Unit? What is the Ozone Hole? What is Ozone?

Again, the impact of even short-term exposure to ozone pollution on healthy adults was demonstrated in the Galveston lifeguard study. In addition to the harmful effects of particle pollution, lifeguards had greater obstruction of their airways at the end of the day when ozone levels were high. Premature death. Breathing ozone can shorten your life. Strong evidence exists of the deadly impact of ozone from large studies conducted in cities across the U.

Researchers repeatedly found that the risk of premature death increased with higher levels of ozone. Immediate breathing problems. Many areas in the United States produce enough ozone during the summer months to cause health problems that can be felt right away. Immediate problems—in addition to increased risk of premature death—include:.

Long-term exposure risks. New studies warn of serious effects from breathing ozone over longer periods. With more long-term data, scientists are finding that long-term exposure—that is, for periods longer than eight hours, including days, months or years—may increase the risk of early death.

Breathing other pollutants in the air may make your lungs more responsive to ozone—and breathing ozone may increase your body's response to other pollutants. For example, research warns that breathing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide—two pollutants common in the eastern U.

Breathing ozone may also increase the response to allergens in people with allergies. A large study published in found that children were more likely to suffer from hay fever and respiratory allergies when ozone and PM2. Research shows lower levels of ozone cause harm. EPA released their latest complete review of the current research on ozone pollution in February The experts on the committee and EPA concluded that ozone pollution posed multiple, serious threats to health.

Their findings are highlighted in the box below. However, new research provides evidence that ozone can cause serious harm even at much lower levels.

In a scientific paper, researchers provided further evidence in a nationwide study that older adults faced a higher risk of premature death even when levels of ozone pollution remained well below the current national standard.

Data updated as of January 31, Ground-level ozone is bad ozone. Ozone harms human health and the environment when it forms close to the ground. The most significant things that cause ground-level ozone to form are:. It absorbs most of the incoming UV "light" before it reaches the ground.

The ozone molecules which absorb UV radiation later re-radiate the energy as heat, warming the stratosphere. Various chemicals that humans release into the atmosphere can destroy ozone in the stratosphere. This has caused a thinning of the ozone layer in recent years, and even holes in the ozone layer over Earth's poles. Ozone molecules are much less stable than regular O 2 oxygen molecules.

They are very prone to react chemically with other substances.