# Re: Why can't we use bad ozone from pollution to replenish the thinning ozone layer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-cant-we-use-bad-ozone-from-pollution-to-replenish-the-thinning-ozone-layer/402020>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 29, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-cant-we-use-bad-ozone-from-pollution-to-replenish-the-thinning-ozone-layer/402020 "2007-04-29T04:44:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![western.blot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/848f3c/32.png) [@western.blot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/western.blot)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-cant-we-use-bad-ozone-from-pollution-to-replenish-the-thinning-ozone-layer/402020/1 "2007-04-29T04:44:31Z")

</div>

[Why can’t we use bad ozone from pollution to replenish the thinning ozone layer?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_354.html)

Good article. But the chlorine released from CFCs is as the atom, and not as the famously fatal dichlorine gas as the column implies.

> [@](#):
>
> Now for your last question. Suppose we decided to take our chances with UV and get rid of excess local ozone instead. Could we do it by spraying the air with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the leading cause of ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere? Nice try, but no. CFCs as such don’t destroy ozone; the dirty work is done by chlorine, a CFC breakdown product. CFCs don’t break down until they reach the stratosphere (unlike ozone, they’re quite durable), where ultraviolet radiation causes them to release the fatal gas.

For those of you who think this nit-picking wasn’t worth the effort, I heartily agree.