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Ozone Skin Care: Is smog making your skin ugly

By: Naweko San-Joyz

Smog looks bad, smells bad, and shamelessly makes metropolitan cities look crummy. Could smog also have the same blemishing effect on your skin?

According to AIRNow, a hybrid of government group that provides the public data on national air quality levels, Ozone is a major component of urban smog. Ozone can impair breathing, and cause coughing, throat irritation, and breathing discomfort. Plus, evidence suggests that ozone can lower resistance to respiratory disease like pneumonia, damage lung tissue, and aggravate chronic lung disease, like asthma or bronchitis.

Now, pioneering studies on ozone could add oxidative skin damage to smog’s growing list of ill health effects. An investigation in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science mimicked typical smog exposure levels on human skin cells. Researchers noticed that ozone exposure significantly reduced vitamin E concentrations on the skin cells by 70%.

To counteract the oxidative stress that ozone exerts on the skin, scientists tested the potential of various antioxidants like vitamin C as an ozone
protector. The results published in Toxicology in Vitro concluded that raw vitamin C did
prevent ozone induced cellular damage to skin cells.

Strangely, while vitamin C may protect against ozone induced skin damage,
a study in Free Radical Biology and Medicine found that ozone exposure could actually
reduce amounts of vitamin C and vitamin E in the upper layers of mice
skin.

You can reduceozone’s stress on the skin by using vitamin C and E. Today even
the most inexpensive skin moisturizers contain some quantity of vitamin C (ascorbic
acid) and Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol). To combat the effects of ozone nutritionally,
consume food sources like fruits and vegetables for vitamin C while enjoying nuts and
nut-based oils for vitamin E.

Sources:

AIRNow. Ozone. Accessed December 7, 2007 http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=jump.jump_ozone

Cotovio, J et al. Generation of oxidative stress in human cutaneous models following in
vitro ozone exposure. Toxicology in Vitro; August-October 2001, vol 15, no 4-5, pp
357-362.

He, Q C et al. Effects of environmentally realistic levels of ozone on stratum corneum
function International Journal of Cosmetic Science; October 2006, vol 28, no 5, pp. 349-357.

Thielea, J J et al. In Vivo Exposure to Ozone Depletes Vitamins C and E and Induces
Lipid Peroxidation in Epidermal Layers of Murine Skin. Free Radical Biology and
Medicine; 1997, vol 23, no 3, pp 26#65533;85-391.�

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Fact Sheet - Regulatory Impact Analysis of
EPA’s Proposed Revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
Ground-Level Ozone. Accessed December 7, 2007
http://www.epa.gov/air/ozonepollution/fs20070802.html

Article Source: Main Articles

Naweko is a professional health writer and researcher who teaches how to make your own professional skin care products. Her works include Acne Message, a natural way to cure acne yourself, and Skinny Fat Chicks, a weight control guide for overcoming dieting mind games.

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