Ozone is not smog, really!
SOURCE: Why Is Ozone
Associated With Smog?
Is Ozone Really the Culprit?
The so-called "ground level
ozone" (called this to differentiate it from ozone in the upper atmosphere
- the "ozone layer") that is said to be the "main culprit"
in smog is really a collection hydrocarbons - CO˛ CO, and SO˛ - that
react with UV rays from the sun to form nitric oxides (NOX), halogenated
by-products, and lead and sulfur compounds. These composites do indeed cause offensive odors, aggravate respiratory problems and
burn eyes. But it is NOT the ozone that is the true villain. Ozone naturally
forms not as a true component of smog but, more accurately, as a means of
eliminating it. As the level of VOCs
and particulate rises in the air, the ozone level rises as Nature herself tries
to clean up man's mess!
If you remove the manmade
components of smog - the VOCs and industrial
particulates - then you simply have a natural process where the ozone and
nitrogen dioxide are normalized to safe and healthy levels. When you add a
large amount of man-made hydrocarbons to the equation, then the amounts of
nitrogen dioxide and ozone are artificially increased.
The main reason that ozone gets
the label of "Public Enemy Number One" is that while man-made
hydrocarbons are very complex and as such quite difficult to measure, ozone is
very easy to accurately measure. Consequently, ozone has long been used as an
indicator for the severity or presence of smog because as the levels of the
true components of smog rise, so does the level of ozone.
By conveniently placing the onus
on ozone, government and industry are effectively relieved of the
responsibility for the millions of pounds of toxins released into the air every
year. Rather than taking steps to control the real culprit, we are actually
allowing our government to shoot the messenger - good guy ozone.
The Real Culprit
Ozone's beneficial role in smog
reduction is its ability to break down and oxidize hydrocarbons and
particulates in the air. One of the most powerful oxidants known, ozone
actually burns (through a microscopic chemical reaction akin to an explosion)
and destroys particulate with which it comes in contact. Ozone is unstable and
highly reactive, and as such it readily seeks out molecules of particulate and
gas with which to chemically react in an effort to break up the oxygen triplet
- O3 - and return to its natural state: O2, or oxygen.
However, in the process of
breaking down man-made hydrocarbons in particular, the result is the production
of elements that combine to produce additional ozone and nitrogen dioxide,
above and beyond what is produced naturally. Even though hydrocarbons are
quickly being broken down by the ozone, the sheer volume of these pollutants
that is produced by our highly-industrialized society is almost insurmountable.
In our cities and industrial areas, where there is an extremely high level of
hydrocarbons in the air, nature simply cannot keep up without overcompensating.
By itself, ozone is a natural
purification agent used in a variety of ways for this purpose both by nature
and by humans. At reasonable levels it is not at all unhealthy, and due to
ozone's reactive and unstable nature it is very, very rare for ozone levels to
become excessive under natural or normal circumstances. Conversely, man-made
hydrocarbons are completely unhealthy at any level and under any circumstance.
Common sense dictates that black, sooty smoke coming from an automobile exhaust
or smokestack can only be harmful to your health.
Hydrocarbons do occur naturally
in the air, as does the ozone that helps to break them down without reaching
dangerous or unnatural concentrations. When excessive amounts of hydrocarbons
are produced, largely man-made, you will get high ozone concentrations as a
natural reaction to an unnatural situation. Rarely do less-populated areas
experience smog and ozone problems, even though ozone is naturally produced the
same way and in similar quantities in big and small cities alike.
SMOG LIES FROM YOUR EPA:
Smog
is formed when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and
nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from a variety of
sources combine to form ozone. The formation of ozone from VOCs
and NOx is accelerated by sunlight and heat, thus
making smog more pervasive during warm weather months. In
(ED. Here, the EPA is sneakily implying that smog is
equivalent to ozone, redefing the term in the worst
Orwellian way. Then they get their media
whores to repeat it over and over in news reports etc., and, as any good
propagandist knows, a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth to most
people. These Madison avenue techniques are topped
with a good portion of Nazi and Communist brain washing methods. The American people are being programmed into
slavery and death. (Ozone has been used
around the world for over 50 years to cure many so-called “incurable”
conditions that are repressed in the
Note also, that the NOx
and VOCs, which are the real cuprits,
are downplayed and trivialized as causative agents in preference to making
ozone the bad guy. This is a good
example of how words are twisted and ideas distorted to hide the truth and accelerarate the agenda of the vested interests who are
enslaving us. More importantly, it is not true.
Ozone is not produced this way. It is a grey lie that weak-minded
scientists use to serve their masters. Ozone is Natures way of trying to
neutralize these toxic compounds by oxidizing them. Part of the ozone in
catalytic action returns to its O3 state. But then, this is typical of the assault on
the American people through attacking the natural defenses of Nature as bad and
repressing symptons as good. The actual cause sneaks
away like a snake to strike again in the darkness of ignorance. Shine a light before it is too late!)
If smog is so bad why
don’t we blame the oil companies? SEE GRAPH
The real problem seems to be the NOx compounds as you can see. Ozone is a byproduct not the cause.
The
Chemistry of Photochemical Smog
It really becomes
evident that NO, NO2 and CO are some of the real cuprits when you see
How We Model Smog Photochemistry
This is importantJ…….
The reaction
between oxygen and NO is so slow under ambient atmospheric conditions ([NO]
< 50 ppbv) that oxidation by ozone dominates. If this occurs there is no net
production of ozone.
NO + O3 ---> NO2
+ O2
Other
oxidants present in the unpolluted troposphere (OH, OOH) can oxidize NO (e.g.,
NO + OOH ---> NO2 + OH). In the absence of volatile organic compounds, OH
and OOH primarily derive from photochemical reactions of ozone (e.g., O3 +
sunlight ---> O2 + O and then O + H2O ---> 2 OH). When NO is reoxidized
by ozone (or an oxidant immediately derived from it), there is no net ozone
production. Only when NO is reoxidized with oxidants
other than ozone or its immediate products is there a net increase in tropospheric ozone levels.
Source: Urban
Smog And Reaction Mechanisms
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