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Shows Smog Toxic to Skin Cells Posted: July 30, 2009 Smog is
nasty enough in the atmosphere, but now research suggests that
ozone, a key component of smog, stresses out human skin cells.
Cars and factories belch pollutants into the air that combine
with the sun's rays to form photochemical smog. Ozone in the
lower atmosphere contributes to the smog that's visible to the
eye; this is different from ozone high in the atmosphere that
helps protect life on Earth from deadly doses of ultraviolet
solar radiation. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, exposed human skin cells to the smog-related ozone in
the laboratory and found that they turned on cellular machinery
that normally responds to stress, suggesting ozone may be toxic
to human skin. However, further experiments are required to
confirm the findings in people. Smog breaks down into free
radicals when zapped by the sun.