# Ozone Also A Pollutant?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozone-also-a-pollutant/6030>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 11, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozone-also-a-pollutant/6030 "2000-01-11T20:07:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozone-also-a-pollutant/6030/1 "2000-01-11T20:07:00Z")

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We’ve had our fill of talk about the depletion of the ozone layer, but! Can someone please explain why weathermen often report on “unsafe” ozone levels? I believe I typically hear this talk in the summer. Does this make any sense? And, if it really is a pollutant, don’t aerosols hold the key?

Also, where ozone is replete, isn’t O3 easy enough to be man-made? Heck, we can form O3 without even trying! Any ideas?

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The scary thing is that 90% of the people think they’re above average! - unknown

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozone-also-a-pollutant/6030/2 "2000-01-11T20:21:00Z")

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On the ground, O[sub]3[/sub] is bad. It’s a lung irritant, plus it damages forests and crops.

Although the ozone layer was naturally thin, trying to replenish this worldwide would be a massive undertaking. Also, the chlorine that’s destroying it is still up there, so we’d just be filling up a bucket with a hole in it.

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The Canadians. They walk among us. William Shatner. Michael J. Fox. Monty Hall. Mike Meyers. Alex Trebek. All of them Canadians. All of them here.

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**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozone-also-a-pollutant/6030/3 "2000-01-11T20:24:00Z")

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Didn’t Cecil cover this already? Lemme check…

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**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozone-also-a-pollutant/6030/4 "2000-01-11T20:42:00Z")

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Here ya go, Squee: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_354.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_354.html)

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozone-also-a-pollutant/6030/5 "2000-01-11T20:47:00Z")

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David B - many thanks from the “oh-no” zone!