The harm of ozone, this way of prevention will reduce the harm

The color of ozone is light blue. It is beneficial to the human body if humans inhale very small amounts of ozone, but if too much is inhaled, it will harm the body, damaging the lungs and skin. We must take precautions and understand when ozone pollution is most serious.

1. Timing: Ozone is most severe in summer and in the afternoon

When: Ozone is worst in the summer and in the afternoon

Ozone becomes the primary pollutant in summer and has become a law of air pollution. Ozone pollution generally starts in April each year and lasts until October, with the highest concentrations from June to August. Over a single day, as the sunshine increases, the ozone concentration continues to increase, reaching a peak around 1 p.m., remaining high from 2 to 3 p.m., and gradually decreasing around 5 p.m. as solar radiation weakens.

This is because the weather in summer is more suitable for the generation of photochemical pollution. The temperature is high and the ultraviolet rays are strong. The pollutants emitted by motor vehicles contain a large amount of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Under the sunlight, they will undergo a series of reactions to generate ozone. Therefore, summer is the perfect time and place for the formation of ozone: strong sunshine, high temperature, few clouds, weak wind, and sufficient "raw materials". Not only in our country, but also in European and American countries, ozone pollution occupies a major position in the summer.

2. Impact: Damage to eyes, lungs and skin

Because ozone is extremely oxidizing, when its concentration exceeds the standard, it will have a series of impacts on human health.

Ozone can strongly irritate the respiratory tract, causing airway reactions, increased airway inflammation, and worsening asthma. There is a very intuitive set of data: when the ozone concentration in the air reaches 0.01~0.02 mg/L, people can smell it; when it reaches 1 mg/L, it can cause accelerated breathing, chest tightness, etc.; 2.5~5 mg/L can cause accelerated pulse, fatigue, and headache. Staying in such an environment for 1 hour can cause emphysema and even death.

3. Monitoring: Ozone data can lie

However, ozone monitoring is not easy. First, the monitoring data is inaccurate, and second, it is difficult to control the emission of exhaust gas, the "raw material" of ozone.

During monitoring, it was found that the more traffic there is, the lower the ozone monitoring data is. This does not mean that the pollution in this place is low, but because the content of nitric oxide (NO), the main pollutant in automobile exhaust, is high in major traffic arteries. The ozone generated will react with NO to become nitrogen dioxide. When these gases drift to distant places, such as suburbs and reservoirs, ozone will be regenerated. This is why monitoring data shows that the ozone content in suburbs is often higher than that in urban areas.

Since motor vehicle emissions are the main "raw material" of ozone, wouldn't it be enough to reduce motor vehicle emissions? Sun Yang introduced that the amount of ozone and motor vehicle nitrogen oxide emissions are not the same, the less emissions, the less ozone is generated. Because nitrogen oxides and other nitric oxides in exhaust gas have the effect of eliminating ozone, nitrogen dioxide and VOCs are the direct "raw materials" for producing ozone. Only when both nitrogen oxides and VOCs are controlled within an appropriate range can the amount of ozone generated be minimized. The sources of VOCs are very wide, and even plants emit VOCs, so they are difficult to control.