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Humans Make Ozone
MondoMor writes "Spotted this article at the Scripps Research Institute. Apparently humans have the ability to manufacture ozone, and do so as an immune response. Suppose we took a bunch of lawyers to the south pole, right under the ozone hole..."
Ozone is ozone, but we only like it when it's it the upper atmosphere where it can block UV radiation. Down here it is a poison.
This Sig Kills Fascists
As the article states, ozone is produced by neutrophils as a part of an immune response. Not too surprising; redox chemistry is critically important and we've evolved ways of protecting ourselves from harmful oxidation. For example the enzyme catalase converts hydrogen peroxide into water and hydrogen, while superoxide dismutase is a free radical scavenger. I wouldn't be too surprised if there's a specialized anti-ozone protein as well. Anyway, neutrophils engulf bacteria (and other things) and the engulfed matter ends up in an intracellular compartment called a phagosome. The neutrophil pumps in various nasty compounds--I imagine ozone may be one of them--to kill whatever it engulfed. I'd imagine that neutrophils have higher than normal expression levels for catalase and other protective enzymes to protect itself...from itself.
Alright..first of all, not all oxidants are bad for you. A lot of them are produced -by- your body for a number of different purposes. Secondly, those anti-oxidant suppliments can be far more dangerous than just accepting the normal amount that your body produces..too much of them are known to cause permanent damage if taken excessively.
mm except they will get oxidized on the way up by things like sulfur etc and other gases in the atmosphere, 03 exactly the state Oxygen *wants* to be in, and it would be happy to bond with nearly any other element on the way "up" to the ozone. so thats a no go.
"Suppose we took a bunch of lawyers to the south pole, right under the ozone hole..."
Ahh, another one of those guys... Buddy, I hate to tell ya, but the ozone is NOT depleting. The reason for global warming is the sun is just getting hotter, like all stars do. Even if the Ozone is depleting, it's constantly replenishing itself through volcanic eruptions, cars, and even TVs and computer screens (no wonder I'm addicted).