Indoor air pollution is defined as the presence of one or more contaminants indoors that carry a certain degree of human health risk. Indoor air pollution dates back to the prehistoric era, where cavemen depicted the problems they encountered with the amount smoke that was present in their cave dwellings. As technology has advanced, to make our lives much more comfortable, over the past several decades there have been a number of products invented or improved. Along with the newer products came new studies and technology that helped us to study the effects these products were having on our environment and atmosphere we live in.

The ozone layer is located in our stratosphere and plays a vital role in our survival, as well as every living animal and plant on this earth. The ozone layer consists of larger concentrations of O3, also known as ozone. The main purpose of the ozone layer is to filter out the harmful UV rays of the sun. This “filtering effect” is achieved through a photochemical process known as the ozone-oxygen cycle. During this process oxygen (O2) and ozone (O3) are constantly being created, broken down, and recreated. The UV rays of the sun cause oxygen molecules to split. The two free atoms join with another oxygen molecule to form ozone. The UV rays then cause an atom to separate from the ozone leaving an oxygen atom. Each time these splits occur UV energy is absorbed in the process. The process sounds self sustaining but there are several factors that contribute to the inability to do such.

The ozone layer is diminishing at an alarming rate in a phenomenom known as ozone depletion. Ozone depletion occurs as two different types. The first has been a slow and steady depletion that occurs at a rate of about 4% per decade that has been considerer constant since the 1970s. The second type of depletion is much more rapid but considered to be more of a temporary or seasonal loss known as the ozone hole and occurs over the South Pole. The ozone hole is formed as seasonal winds create a vortex that isolates the stratosphere above Antarctica. As temperatures drop to the extreme; acids in the air freeze and cause chemical reactions which break down both the oxygen and ozone molecules. Once the temperature rises these ice crystals melt and the chemical reactions lessen dramatically. During the time which the chemical reactions occur the ozone column is the southern pole region is reduced by nearly 50% or more. The chemicals that are released when the acid freezes and cause the resulting ozone depletion are know as CFCs.

CFCs are the number one cause of ozone depletion. They are also known as chlorofluorocarbons. Although, they can occur naturally through chemical and thermological processes they were released into the atmosphere in large numbers by humans for many years before their harmful environmental side effects were discovered. CFCs were developed in the 1930s and were widely used for a number of reasons. CFCs are non toxic, non flammable, and non reactive with other chemical compounds, all of which are safety characteristics desired and ideal for many application uses. They are used for a variety of household uses such as coolants for refrigeration units, aerosol propellants, and electronic cleaning solvents. It wasn’t until 1973 that the chlorine in CFCs was thought to be the main culprit behind ozone depletion. In 1984 the results