Killer Ozone?

Tufriast writes "This will make you think twice about an H2... The BBC News has reported that the death toll in U.S. cities might have a correlation to the ozone levels in them. The article mentions several major U.S. cities, and notices the upward trend in premature deaths as pollution levels rise. The results can also be found in the Journal of the American Medical Association."

Comments

Re:H_2 or O_3?

[hopemafia]

Actually, I think the submitter was referring to the Hummer2 not diatomic hydrogen.

But hydrogen is what I thought at first glance too...

H2=Hummer2

[Anonymous Coward]

For the love of GM, they aren't talking about Hydrogen. It's the Hummer 2, haven't you ever seen those commercials with the geeky kid who builds one out of wood and kicks the other kids' asses in a race?

Re:Its not the H2s

[Smidge204]

Most of what is on the "collection grids" is actually burnt ozone

How do you "burn" oxygen? :)

A properly designed ionic air filter does not produce any detectable ozone. There ARE some types of air cleaners that are designed specifically for ozone production - ozone is a powerful antiseptic and rids the air of all sorts of airborne bacteria and the like.

=Smidge=

Re:Its not the H2s

[Smidge204]

Ozone is pure oxygen, just in tri-atomic instead of di-atomic form. It has a very distinct "electric" odor (not a burning smell) and prolonged exposure can be a problem. The occasional breif whiff isn't going to hurt you.

The black stuff is dust and dirt and other crud that used to be in the air. The devices work by ionizing particles and some gas molecules in the air and using an electric field to move them through the device. The "collection plates" are the positive electrode, and when the ionized air and dust contact with it, they lose their negative charge. Dust particles get stuck on the plate and are thus removed from the air.

Some ionized material makes it through, and this is what collects on your walls. Ever try rubbing a baloon on your shirt and sticking it to the wall? Same thing.

If properly designed, the voltages are not sufficient to generate significant ozone.
=Smidge=

Actually, the H2 is a problem

[Engineer-Poet]

The H2 is a "heavy light-duty" truck, and is allowed to emit much more of most pollutants than a passenger car. See this document.

Ironically, many California cities restrict trucks over 6500 lbs GVW to truck routes; they wouldn't have to raise mileage standards to get those Hummers and Durangoes off the roads, all they'd have to do is enforce the truck restrictions they already have.

Mod parent down

[famebait]

"Not very scientific", "Confusing correlation with cause again, I see... how is this for a theory: perhaps the same crowded conditions that create the accumulation of ozone also create stress in people's lives that makes them more prone to violence?"

If you want to be scientific, how about starting with actually reading the article you want to discredit? Your criticism is not only ill-founded, you don't even seem to know what claim it is you are trying to refute. Not exacly a shining example of scientific approach, are you?

The article only claimed that scientists suspect a link (impying it should be investigated), as any scientist would and should when such a correlation is discovered. It also says that the deaths were not violent, and that the correleated variations were on the scale of weeks, which rules out population changes. This would have taken most people less than a minute to read.

"Insightful" my ass.