Ozone is the principal element of the ozone layer, which traps the sun’s heat and is essential to life on Earth. Unlike breathable, stable oxygen molecules, which are composed of two oxygen atoms, ozone is composed of three. The third oxygen atom in ozone can easily detach from the ozone molecule and reattach to other substances, altering their chemistry. Ozone generators produce the gas in large enough quantities that unstable organic compounds will react with the gas and, supposedly, be altered so that they will no longer be irritating or dangerous.
Note that ozone can dull the olfactory sense, a fact that has led many experts to believe that ozone’s deodorizing abilities are at least partially due to an altered odor perception, rather than any change in the environment.
