OZONE

OZONE:

Increased possibility of skin cancer and eye damage

This column is published in Novi List,Rijeka,Croatia,'Reactions' column, in June 2001.

Ladies and gentlemen of the editorial board of the New List,

in your Sunday issue you posted the article on the last
page under the heading 'Increased possibility of cancer
skin and eye damage. " Hereby I would like to add my
experience to the topic
because little is written, just as on other topics
concerning the preservation of health, as well as to the health
prevention as if it is not important!

Please publish this article concerning as far as
the most sensitive part of health hazard
population, OUR CHILDREN who depend on the consciences of their parents and
close people because they can not afford to protect themselves!

Ozone is the formula unstable consisting of the three oxygen atoms that are
decomposes into oxygen gas and an oxygen atom. It
decay goes faster in damp conditions, especially rain.
But the car combustion gases accelerates the
reaction too.

Once we believed that lightning in the summer
storms make good ozonizing air and making it
clean, which is true, because ozone is a strong oxidant.
Unfortunately, chemists quickly realized that ozone
like all strong oxidants has carcinogenic effect
inclusive for the peroxide bleaching of pigment from the hair .
More recent information on the activities of the ozone that penetrates to
all countries throughout increased the ozone hole cause concern.
Rabbits in Argentina for inst. are already blinded by the ozone ...
The humans can not develop immunity to the health damage caused by ozone
Indeed. Therefore, we have to take precautions, and need
to know how.
 
If a sunny day preceding the rainy day, that all ozone erased by rain,

the value of ozone in the morning around 9 o'clock can move around
value of 10 micrograms of ozone per cubic meter.
Evening will be the value if the day would be sunny
about the value of 80-100 micrograms per cubic meter.
By night, because there is no sunshine, this will fal to 40-60 micrograms of ozone per cubic meter,
But around 9 am start to grow and reach the end of the day
to a critical point of 140 micrograms per cubic meter.
 
This is the value at which the GermanMinistry of Health warn
population that do not stay outdoors longer than
HALF AN HOUR, and little children NO MORE THAN 20 MINUTES!

Germans dedicate the great importance to the problem and the
their teletext reports ozone
values ​​every 2 hours! /. Every new day is accumulated
the MORE ozone. The less cloudiness,
degradation by night humidity is small and at the end of a lovely
sunny week the ozone value per cubic meter climb
to unbearably 300 micrograms per cubic meter!
Then, the traffic by private car stops in Germany,
allowed is only public transportation, everywhere on the crossroads and

junction, police patrols to control the respect
absolute prohibition of driving! All days, all windows
houses and flats are firmly closed, aeration of the apartments take place

only at night ...

No it's not science fiction than reality
that we lived in!

How the body is submitted that the amount of ozone? Not
particularly easy because the man did not develop during the evolution
defense mechanisms to such a situation, because the situation like that

did not yet occur in humans history!

So, shortly after leaving the open
area will begin to feel a burning sensation in the eyes, nose and
bronchi. The longer exposed to ozone, these symptoms
are worsening, it starts coughing and tearing
irritation of the eyes. Cough and bronchial
irritation remain even after entering into a closed
space, depending on the length of exposure, can
take a few days.
The basic rules are that as the altitude is higher
a larger amount of ozone you can expect in the air!,

Paradoxically the great city
crossings, where the concentration of
toxic gases from the combustion of automotive engines is high,
are free from ozone because those gases of heavy air pollution just
degrade ozone!
Croatia is in a transition zone that the ozone hole over
it currently crossing borders themselves. Which means that
precautionary measures must be respected! The only sure
belt represents Greece and Turkey, Sardinia, southern
parts of Italy, Malta ... for the time being.

Lotions and sun creams provide only PARTIAL protection.
For example, if you spread it on your baby Ambre Solaire sun factor 30,

it means that you can expose your child
to the sunlight only for 30 minutes.

But by this you protected only the skin of your child, 
BUT NOT EYES AND RESPIRATORY ORGANS!
 
I am warning parents to keep this in mind while walking through
with their children in these, especially the coming summer.
 

Sunglasses do not protect against OZONE, FOR THE
 
OZONE IS GAS and penetrate BEHIND THE GLASSES!

Children are allowed to go through walk only until 9 am and AFTER the sunset!
I would recommend from sun rise to 9 o' clock due the decomposition of ozone by night
humidity, while after sun set the cumulative ozone content is at its peak position.

Please, keep in mind that if your sun glasses are  made of plastic material, 
at the temperatures over 35 degrees of Celzius the plastic material 
of your lenses or frames may release fumes that are harm too.
So if you feel anything is strange with your vision or your eyes started to 
give a burn like feeling, take off your glasses right away, because your glasses are not 
protecting your eyes but damaging them!

Yes, the terminology is slightly changed nowadays, as a beautiful,
carefree days are those that we call rainy days, because we do not
endanger our health by ozone on that days!

Unfortunately, the global warming
has a tendency of progression due to Bush's decision
that does not respect the decision of limiting the emissions
gases.

Croatia has another problem, which is
geographical fact that the winds blow from the direction
west to east, so that we, who posses almost
no industry, have 'imported' emissions and pollution from
the Western European countries.

If one accepts the fact, that to this ozone
we have to add imported pollution of the air
brought by winds from western Europe, this is the pollution

that suffers our lungs...Our daily breathing...

But this is not the only pollutant.

If you still live in the attic area where there is
the glass wool insulation, that makes our lungs do not
writes well. And if the roof is made of Salonite,
asbestos plates, we have really bad luck! If we
have in the apartments the floor covered by vinyl tiles,

bad, bad, bad luck ...
 
I would call it the best way to get the lung cancer

'of unknown causes' because we were not smokers!
 
Thank you, Europe, who has so high conscience
on the environmental pollution shipment, we accept
also the different 'gifts', may not be just like that!
So we expect from the Europe to respect the
minimun of civilized behavior to ensure to the others
the right to clean air!
OUR CLEAN AIR!

Hereby I request from the weather reports,
since we have no possibility such as Germany

to measure the ozone values each two hours,
to print at least, or warn in TV forcast the
DAILY FORECASTS of the ozone values.

Because its not only the right but
the obligation of every citizen of this country to
protect her/his own health as possible more.

Also I would ask you to write more often about above,
reminding people at the danger by which they are daily
threatened, and they are in most cases not even
aware of it!