The stratospheric ozone layer, at an altitude between 10 and 50 km, shields the earth from biologically damaging solar ultraviolet radiation in the 280–320 nm wavelength range (UV-B). Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigerants, foam production, aerosol cans and solvents, and halons used in fire extinguishers escape into the lower atmosphere and migrate to the stratosphere. There they destroy the ozone layer by photochemically catalyzing the conversion of ozone (O3) to oxygen (O2).

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