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Story at-a-glance

Ozone is not inherently bad, nor dangerous. It's a
normal part of your air supply, and it’s only when ozone levels are excessive
that health problems can occur

At the appropriate natural levels like you find outside
on a non-polluted day, ozone is not only effective – it’s nature's method for
cleaning the air we breathe -- it's naturally safe

The EPA’s latest ozone ruling is unsupported by
scientific evidence and may cost the U.S. a trillion dollars and millions of
lost jobs

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Coming Soon: A Controversial "Ruling" That Threatens Your Job AND the
Economy

April 25, 2012 | 162,450 views | + Add to
Favorites

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By Dr. Mercola

Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
responsible for setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for
various air pollutants, ozone included.

But their latest ruling on ozone is riddled in controversy, as opponents
state it is not only unsupported by scientific evidence but also set to cost
the United States dearly in the form of a trillion dollars and millions of
lost jobs.

What's the New Ozone Standard All About?

In 2009, the EPA decided it would reconsider the ozone standard, which was
set at 0.075 parts per million (ppm) in 2008. In 2010, they proposed a new
standard in the range of 0.060 to 0.070 ppm, with an additional secondary
"seasonal" (and even more stringent) standard designed to protect sensitive
vegetation and ecosystems, including forests, parks, wildlife refuges and
wilderness areas during the summer.

The final rule was  released at the end of July 2011i after a temporary delay.At the time,  opponents
like Andrew Grossman, a frequent adviser to Congress on complex legal and
policy issues, had rejoiced, statingii :

"Congress should make the EPA's temporary postponement of its new
ozone standards a permanent one."

In the end, the EPA set the new ozone standard at 0.070 ppm. Why all the
backlash over what seems on face value to be a positive move for
health and the environment?

Questionable Science: Are Ozone Risks Exaggerated?

Most of you have probably heard of ozone before, likely in relation to its
role as an air pollutant. But you should know that ozone is not inherently
bad, nor dangerous. It is actually the way that nature cleans and removes
pollutants naturally from the air outside.

Ozone is simply an oxygen molecule with an extra atom attached… the
chemical symbol is O3… the extra oxygen atom makes it a somewhat aggressive
oxidizer. Why is the extra oxygen atom important? The interesting thing about
ozone is that it uses this extra ozone to decimate air pollution. Once it
oxidizes an air pollutant, it loses one of its oxygen atoms and turns back
into pure oxygen (O2).

It is true that ozone in excessively high levels can cause breathing
trouble, but the part that is never mentioned is that you breathe ozone every
day, and that's just fine. It's a normal part of your air supply, and a normal
part of earth's atmosphere. It is only when ozone levels are
excessive that health problems can occur. After all, even water and
sunlight are harmful in excess.

Is the EPA's Ozone Standard Based on Flawed Science?

The EPA's suggested revision to the ozone NAAQS appears to be based on
flawed science. As a  report
by NERA Economic Consulting revealed:

"EPA's statements on health benefits from lowering the Ozone NAAQS
grossly misrepresent what EPA is actually estimating as the potential
benefits of reducing public exposures to ozone. If based on ozone benefits
alone, not one of EPA's estimates of the benefits of reducing ozone to a
tighter alternative ozone standard is as large as the costs of attaining
that respective ozone standard -- all cost more than the ozone benefits they
might provide."

According to the report:

The EPA has included ozone reduction benefits based on ozone-related
mortality, even though EPA's science advisors found no "causal" link between
ozone and mortality

The EPA has included benefits from concomitant reductions in particulate
matter (PM) that may occur while reducing ozone precursors. Particulate
matter is an entirely different issue from ozone, and describes particles in
the air, such as dust, dirt, soot, smoke and other toxins from diesel fumes
and other sources.

As the report stated:

"The only way EPA finds benefits greater than costs for a tighter
ozone standard is to add in health gains from concomitant reductions in
PM2.5 that may occur while reducing ozone precursors -- "co-benefits" that
have nothing to do with ozone exposures. Thus, EPA's claim that tightening
the Ozone NAAQS has greater benefits than costs has nothing to do with
reducing risks from ozone."

Grossman
further expanded on the EPA's decision to include particulate matter in
with their ozone analysis:

"The biggest purported benefits—alleged to be worth tens of billions
of dollars per year—have to do not with ozone but with reductions in
airborne particulate matter that would supposedly be achieved by the
emissions controls required to meet a new ozone standard. This claim is
speculative, because the "unknown technologies" necessary to comply may or
may not achieve these reductions.

Moreover, the EPA claims these same benefits for its rule on
interstate air pollution, its massively expensive Utility MACT proposal, and
its NAAQS for fine particulate matter and sulfur dioxide. If a private
entity followed the EPA's lead and quintuple-counted profits, its executives
would wind up in prison."

There are other questionable aspects to the EPA's new NAAQS as well. For
instance, the stricter standard is based on a controversial re-analysis of two
small studies. As Grossman
states:

"The EPA's re-analysis has proven controversial and been criticized
by the two studies' author and other scientists. For example, CASAC [Clean
Air Scientific Advisory Committee] member Dr. Sverre Vedal of the University
of Washington stated that the EPA's re-analysis "amounts to attempting to
find effects in a very few individuals when the statistical tests are not
significant." And former CASAC chair Roger McClellan testified, 'The
validity of this re-interpretation and the significance of the functional
changes is open to debate.'"

The standard is also moving closer to background levels that exist
naturally in the environment, making it difficult if not possible to attain in
some areas. The costs are going to be extraordinary no matter what, with one
study by Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI suggesting the stricter ozone standard
could cost the U.S.
economy more than $1 trillion per year from 2020 to 2030 while cutting 7.3
million jobs.

Natural Ozone is Safe

Much of the misunderstanding surrounding ozone has been spewed by the
commercial industry, including manufacturers of ozone-free air purifiers who
have used negative marketing to their advantage, jumping on the
ozone-will-kill-you bandwagon in an attempt to skewer the competition. But
ozone is a natural component of the earth's atmosphere, considered by many
scientists to be nature's method for cleaning the air we breathe.

Ozone is:

Made in nature by ultra violet (UV) energy from the sun striking oxygen
molecules

Created by lightning – The fresh air you smell after a thunderstorm is
due to the ozone cleaning effect on the air.

A component of ground-level air wherever you go on the earth – Such has
been the case since the beginning of time.

At the appropriate natural levels like you find outside on a non-polluted
day, ozone is not only effective, it's naturally safe … typical levels run
0.01 to 0.05 ppm. This is why, when it comes to ozone air purifiers, as long
as they limit ozone levels in your home to between 0.02 and 0.04 ppm, they
offer great health benefits, without any of the negative
effects.

Ozone Purifiers are Also Very Safe if Used Correctly

It is important to understand that air purifiers incorporating ozone use an
active process and do not physically capture any indoor air pollutants. Rather
they generate a safe dose of ozone that will oxidize and permanently remove
the pollutants just the way they do outdoors in Mother Nature.

When it comes to air purification units for your home, the EPA has
established clear ozone limits for occupied spaces … and that's 0.05 ppm. And
this establishment by the EPA seems to make a great deal of sense since
typical levels outdoors are present at 0.05 ppm and are still considered
safe.

So there is no reason to be fearful of ozone, as it is safe at natural
levels and actually used in nature to oxidize pollutants and clean
the air.

You certainly do not want to expose yourself to high levels of man-made
ozone, that is, the ozone the EPA calls "ground-level" ozone that is formed
when two types of pollutants (volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of
nitrogen) react in the presence of sunlight. This ozone is a direct product of
industry, motor vehicles, and toxic consumer products like paints and
cleaners, and may cause breathing trouble, lung damage and other health
effects with continued exposure.

If ozone were not safe, you would not be able to breathe the air outside,
especially on a clear sunny day; during a thunderstorm, lightning, or after a
rain shower. The fact is, when used responsibly, ozone is very safe, just like
oxygen, and is very beneficial to our planet and all living things on it.

If you are interested in an extensive reference of scientific articles
about ozone's medical uses, refer to this
list, compiled by Ed McCabe. And finally, if you are interested in making
the air you breathe on a daily basis in your home and office cleaner, you can
find 15
of my top strategies here.

References:

i EPA Final
National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone, July 2011

ii The
Heritage Foundation August 1, 2011

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[+] Sources and References

NERA
Economic Consulting July 22, 2011

Hot
Air August 2, 2011

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