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AEROSOLS
ARE
DESTROYING
OUR
ATMOSPHERE
lnterview with Dr. F. Sher–
wood Rowland, Discoverer
of the Aerosol Menace
Aerosol sprays are gradual/y
destroying the earth 's protec–
tive ozone /ayer, according to
a recent National Academy of
Science report. But can some–
thing as innocent as a deodo–
ra nt spray can real/y
contribute to millions of
deaths in a bizarre kind of
aerosol Armageddon? To find
out,
Plain Truth
Science Edi–
tor Robert A. Ginskey talked
with Dr. F. Sherwood Row–
land, atmospheric chemist at
the University of California, Ir–
vine, and co-discoverer of the
aerosol menace.
G
INSKEY: Dr. Rowl and, just
what is the ozone layer, and
why is it important to man–
kind?
ROWLAND:
The ozone !ayer is a
protective shi e ld composed of a n
unsta ble fo rm of oxygen called oz–
one. lt is located high in the upper
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1976
a tmosphere. The ozone abso rbs u l–
traviolet ligh t coming from the sun
and thus protects us from the ha rm–
ful etfects of too much ultrav io let
rad iation. The ozone also influences
the tempe ra ture of the stratosphere,
which may atfect weather patterns
and climate in the lowe r atmo–
sphere.
a.
Do we have hard data on what
would result from a partial destruc–
tlon of the ozone layer?
A.
W e do have hard da ta concerning
the e tfect on human skin cancer - as
hard as environmen tal data can be–
come. The calcu lat ions indicate t hat
if you were to reduce the ozone layer
by about 5%, then the human skin–
ca ncer ra te would go up by about
10%. At presen t, about three people
out of every thousand get skin ca ncer
eve ryyear in the Uni ted States. That's
the hard data. But other effects might
even be mo re impo rta n!
to
the human
race - biologica l interruption of th e
food chain, clima tic changes, and the
like.
The recent Nationa l Academy of
Science report stated that a r educ–
t ion in t he ozone umbrella co uld
depress food production and dras–
tically change the planet's clima te.
a.
Are man's activities influencing
the ozone layer?
A.
Yes, there a re a number of pos–
sib le influences resulting from the
use of supersonic transports, from
nuclear bomb testing, and from the
re lease of the fluorocarbons used in
aerosol sprays and refrigeration.
a.
Do SSTs and nuclear bomb tests
pose a serious threat to the ozone
layer?
A.
So far. the influence from bomb
te s ti ng in th e atmosphere has
caused a ma rginal effect. The prob–
lem is that the re's too much natu ra l
variation In the ozone layer for the
influence of nuclea r tes ting to show
up clear ly. An all-out nucl ear war.
however, would be very devastating
to the ea rth's ozone sh ield.
As for the SST, the Natí ona l
Academy report indica red that if we
were fly ing 500 SSTs, th ey would
reduce the ozone layer in the no rth–
ern hemisphere by a bout 16%. The
present French-English Concorde
and the Russían TU-144 fly a t a
lower a ltitude where there would be
a smaller etfect, and the number of
aircraft that they plan is about 30
rat her than 500, so the tota l effect
expec t ed from the prese nt ly
p la nned SSTs is no t too signíficant.
a .
How about the fluorocarbon aero–
sol propellants?
A.
T he flu o roca rbons are good as
ae rosol propellan ts. Bu t the p rob–
lem is that you release these mo le–
cules into t he atmosphere and they
then decompose, releasing chlor ine
atoms whích are very active and
wh ich ca talyt ica lly destroy ozone.
a.
Aerosol industry spokesmen
claim that most of your predictions
are theoretical and lack verification
in the real world.
A.
Tt
is certaínly true that the origi–
nal calculations were done on the
basis of labo ratory studíes. But th en,
it was onl y a "theory" that man
co uld go to the moon. Since ou r
origi nal calculations. measurements
ha ve been made o f the stratosphere,
and t hese show that the method of
ca lcula tion was . in fact, quite accu–
ra te. The recent National Academy
o f Science report basícally suppo rts
ou r conclusions.
a.
Critics claim that the increased
chances of getting skin cancer from
the effects you forecast cou ld also
be caused by, say, moving from New
York to Atlanta, where the ultraviolet
light is more intense.
A.
Le t's put it this way. Ifyou live in
Des Moines, your chance of get ting
skin cancer is less than one thi rd as
la rge as
if
you live in Da lias . The
la test National Cance r l nstitute Sur–
vey shows that the Dalias rate is 3.8
cases per thousand per year, and the
Des Moines ra te is 1.2 cases per
thousand per yea r.
1
don' t think
people want to make the cancer rate
higher. But le t's lace it. lt's ultrav io–
let light on the su rface of th e earth
that's causi ng skin cancer. The cor–
rela tion is extremely high.
a.
Some people say all this
is .
just
another environmental scare - ·one
of many alarms that have occurred in
the past, and no doubt will continue
in the future.
A.
lt's true that there have been a
succession of environmental sca res,
bu t in most cases. they wer e per–
fectly legitimate. Take the thalido–
mide sca re. There were thousands of
babies be ing born without a rms and
legs. Now, thalidomide has been
taken off the market and banned
t hroughout the world.
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