What Depletes the ozone Layer?

Joshua Rossi
CHEM-1010
4/22/22
What is ozone?
Before we can determine what depletes the ozone layer, we need to understand what the
ozone layer is. The ozone layer is a concentration of ozone, primarily located in the stratospheric layer of
the atmosphere. Ozone is a molecule made up of 3 oxygen atoms.

What breaks down ozone?

Ozone can be broken down by a couple of things. The most common source of breaking down
ozone also stems from its most common formation source: Sunlight. When an O2 molecule absorbs a
photon of light with a wavelength between 200nm to 300nm, it gains enough energy to retain a third
oxygen atom. The opposite occurs when an ozone molecule absorbs a photon of light with a wavelength
less than 200nm. The absorption of such a photon gives the molecule enough energy to attract another
oxygen atom, unfortunately, it does not have the capacity to retain a fourth oxygen atom and must split
into two O2 molecules. This benefits life on earth as it allows ozone to absorb up to 98% of our sun’s
high-energy UV radiation. This is what makes the rapid depletion of ozone so concerning: without ozone
to absorb high-energy UV radiation, that energy gets shone onto life on Earth which can be deleterious
to DNA and other organic structures. Another common source of ozone degradation is the halogen
family comprised of bromine, chlorine, fluorine, and iodine. The halogen family can break apart ozone
by bonding to an oxygen atom, leaving behind an O2 molecule. These halogens are able to break apart
from the oxygen atom when energized by sources like sunlight and can continue to disrupt more ozone
molecules after detaching from the oxygen atom. Compounds like these that are capable of altering a
reaction without permanently remaining altered themselves are known as catalysts. Chlorine is capable
of repeating ozone catalysis upwards of 95,000 times before it is removed from the atmosphere. This
means that halogens deplete the ozone layer far quicker than sunlight on its own as they can disrupt
ozone molecules much quicker than sunlight can as they are able to repeat this action multiple times
before being completely removed from the atmosphere. It should be known that each element in the
halogen family does not contribute to ozone depletion equally. Hydrogen fluoride (HF), which contains
fluorine, is so exceptionally stable that it has nearly no known impact on ozone in the atmosphere while
compounds such as Hydrobromic Acid (HBr) are far less stable than HF and can be broken apart by
sunlight allowing the now free halogen (bromine, in this case) to disrupt existing ozone molecules.
 “Don’t these halogen compounds occur in nature?” “What’s all the worry
about?”
While many of these compounds containing elements from the halogen family can occur in
nature, they don’t occur in nearly the frequency that they do in human made products. Beginning in the
late 1920’s, manufacturers began producing cans with aerosol sprays that contained a compound group
known as Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs for short. This compound group contained two halogen
elements including Chlorine. It was later discovered that these compounds could make their way to the
stratosphere and accelerate the depletion of the ozone layer. These compounds were then grouped into
a category of compounds that are known to be harmful to the ozone layer, this category was called
Ozone-depleting Substances (ODS). In the 1970’s, countries began placing bans on consumer products
containing ODS as evidence showed that the ozone shield was being depleted. Unfortunately, the
market for compounds in the ODS category continued to grow as uses for the compounds were found in
industrial markets such as refrigerants, fire suppression substances, foam insulation, and many other
products.
Sources used:

https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/hole.html

https://csl.noaa.gov/assessments/ozone/2018/

https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/ozone-hole-and-global-warming

https://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/Ozone/chemistry.html

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/chlorine-linked-to-annual-depletion-of-atmospheric-ozone