Ozone is sometimes called the "activated oxygen". It contains three atoms of oxygen rather than the two atoms we normally breath. Ozone is the second most powerful sterilant in the world and its function is to destroy bacteria, viruses and odours. Interestingly ozone occurs quite readily in nature, most often as a result of lightning strikes that occur during thunderstorms. In fact, that fresh, clean, spring rain smell that we notice after a storm most often results from natures creation of ozone. Ozone is also created by water falls. However, we are probably most familiar with ozone from reading about the "ozone layer" that circles the planet above the earths atmosphere. Here the ozone is created by the sun's ultraviolet rays and then serves to protect us from the ultraviolet radiation.

Additionally, each of us is exposed to high levels of ozone daily for short periods of time. This happens in heavy traffic conditions or during times when the weather forces the industrial gases to remain lower to the ground than is otherwise normal. The combination of these two factors can result in ozone readings as high as 4 or 5 times the "regulatory" levels for continuous exposure with absolutely no adverse affects as our exposure is for such short periods, and the ozone itself decays back to normal oxygen so rapidly.