The Effects of Ozone Gas on Human Health

The Composition of Ozone Gas

The composition of ozone gas consists of three atoms of oxygen which are emitted into the air directly. The chemical reaction exists between the oxides of nitrogen and the volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. Further, the emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities chemical solvents vapors of gasoline and other motor vehicle exhaust. Ozone takes place both at the ground, and upper atmosphere of the earth and have the various effect to the environment and entier organisms within the planet. As a result, it is imperative to understand that ozone is one of the pollutants of air detriment since it affects the health of people through the mental, skin as well as respiratory aspects.

Health Effects of Ozone Pollution

The ozone in the existing air which people breath can be harmful to health in various ways. In situations when the sun is hot can be dangerous since it can reach different unhealthy levels that can result in death sometimes. Therefore, many people at risk are the ones with reduced intake of certain nutrients such as vitamin C, and E which often occurs while breathing the contaminated air. There are various health effects which are essential to be understood in regards to human beings (Health Effects of Ozone Pollution, 2018). The respiratory health risk is one of the impacts which is caused by the ozone layer to people in the world. The essence of this occurs to individuals spending time outdoors where the pollution of ozone levels are higher and can be risky. As a study conducted indicates that breaking the ozone air can cause a risk of premature death. The existence of pollutant in the environment has increased due to the activities of human beings. Various conditions in breathing problems entail strokes, cardiovascular disease as well as respiratory causes. Long-term effect out of breathing the ozone can make the lungs to be more responsive. The essence of this aspect is that the health impacts are differences observed in the respiratory conditions (Lanuti, & Kirsner 2010). These consist of the inflammation of airways, the lung function decrements as well as induction symptoms of respiratory. The symptoms which can be experienced include irritation of the throat, coughing, chest wheezing or shortness of breath and pain, discomfort in the chest, burning among others. Additionally, there is also evidence presented regarding other observational studies which suggest that higher rate of daily concentration of ozone can also be associated with increased admissions in the hospitals, asthma attacks (Lanuti, & Kirsner 2010). Ozone reacts in the respiratory tract in various measures since it has limited solubility in water. Therefore the majority of inhaled ozone reaches the lower respiratory tract which dismisses within the thin layer of epithelial lining fluid when conducting airways within the lungs. The physiological and symptom effect entails being unable to inhale to the total lung capacity.

Mental Health Effects of Ozone Air

The ozone air also has a risk to mental health effect of individuals upon either inhaling and exposure. The significant evidence experienced is correlated with the possibility of anxiety which can describe the impact. Besides, there is an increase in the death of people with behavioral and mental disorders due to the contamination of toxic peaks. Researchers had analyzed over the past years to suggest that the statistics of death indicates the rate of mortality has risen by about 16% due to the pollution of ozone air (Anderson, Thundiyil, & Stolbach, 2012). Further, nearly a quarter million people have died out of the contamination of ozone air which has caused mental illness and behavioral disorders such as depression, bipolar dementia, and schizophrenia among others. Additionally, a study in Korea described medical records of patients in emergency departments were collected and analyzed. Per the cumulative lag model in the results section of the journal, there was a positive correlation between ambient ozone concentration and panic attack emergency department visits. Primarily this can be essential because the thought of mental health and ozone pollution can not linger into the mind of an individual (Anderson, Thundiyil, & Stolbach, 2012). Therefore, it is essential to create awareness for many people to understand the effects of ozone as a hazardous pollutant that can lead to mental illness.

Impact on Skin Health

The understanding of ozone air has led to the development of networks of monitoring stations around the world. Further, the small depletion of the ozone layer has significant consequences. The increased solar radiation which consists of a spectrum of various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. Primarily this ambient radiation penetrates through the skin and can be harmful to the health of an individual (Watts, Adger, Agnolucci, Blackstock, Byass, Cai, & Cox, 2015). The radiation which is exposed to the skin has some various factors to be put into consideration. Regional pollutant, altitude and amount of reflected light are some of the essential elements experienced. Different aspects cause the effect of ozone depletion on the skin. The stratospheric ozone depletion has a range of health impacts on the skin which result in solar a radiation which causes skin cancer. About 86% of melanomas can be attributed to the exposure of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Essentially this also contributed to more than 70% of this type of cancer on the skin (Cho, Choi, Sohn, Suh, Cho, Shin, 2015). There are studies conducted which describe the reaction of ozone with skin which produces chemicals that can cause harm to the skin which can be difficult to detect. An examination by researchers has indicated that there is an interaction of this component of the skin oil referred to as squalene which acts as the precursor of cholesterol. On the other hand, the sebaceous glands found within the skin produces it out and attract the ozone air to the skin. The role of squalene is mainly to act as an antioxidant which protects the skin from the existing ozone. Therefore its exposure out of the skin causes danger to an individual’s body.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the ozone air is the chemical reaction exist between the oxides of nitrogen and the organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. Additionally, it has various effects on human beings in different capacities. These consist of skin, respiratory and mental health conditions. The impact on the skin is primarily due to the exposure of ultraviolet rays which can cause skin cancer to people. The essence of this because of depletion of ozone which leads to the creation of these sunlight rays directly to the earth. Similarly, the respiratory effects entail problems in breathing systems which are affected. Long-term effect out of breathing the ozone can cause the lungs to be responsive and impacts differently in the respiratory systems such as shortness of breath and pain, discomfort in the chest among others. On the other hand, the mental effects caused by ozone have, lead to an increase in behavioral and death impacts among individuals within society.

References

Cho, J., Choi, Y. J., Sohn, J., Suh, M., Cho, S., Ha, K. H., . . . Shin, D. C. (2015). Ambient ozone concentration and emergency department visits for panic attacks. Journal of Psychiatric Research,62, 130-135. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.01.010

Lanuti, E. L., & Kirsner, R. S. (2010). Effects of Pollution on Skin Aging. Journal of Investigative Dermatology,130(12), 2696. doi:10.1038/jid.2010.323

Anderson, J. O., Thundiyil, J. G., & Stolbach, A. (2012). Clearing the air: a review of the effects of particulate matter air pollution on human health. Journal of Medical Toxicology, 8(2), 166-175.

Watts, N., Adger, W. N., Agnolucci, P., Blackstock, J., Byass, P., Cai, W., ... & Cox, P. M. (2015). Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health. The Lancet, 386(10006), 1861-1914.

Health Effects of Ozone Pollution. (2018, October 10). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/health-effects-ozone-pollution