"Capturing" Ozone?

[EvilBiker]

Recently here in South Africa I've been hearing advertising for a gel called Ozone3 - the manufacturers claim that this gel is a viable alternative to cortisone-based gels when it comes to curing a variety of skin afflictions.

From their site:

If you suffer from eczema, psoriasis, acne, cold sores or other troublesome skin ailments there is a recognised, extremely successful aid endorsed by leading doctors and holistic practitioners.

It has been used for centuries in Europe to heal and alleviate skin ailments. The secret is in the way that Ozone is mixed extra virgin olive oil. Because the effects of the healing gel are so rapid you should see a difference within a few days.

There are no side effects and is therefore a highly effective, natural alternative to cortisone. You will find it at selected pharmacies and health stores.

A few flags were raised when I read this:

Inhaling Ozone bubbled through Olive Oil:

This is an excellent therapy for asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia. Breathing of ozone in this way has been practiced in North America for almost a century.

This sounds weird, especially when you consider this statement taken from here:

High concentrations of ozone can cause shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, headaches, nausea, eye and throat irritation, and lung damage. People who suffer from lung diseases like bronchitis, pneumonia, emphysema, asthma, and colds have even more trouble breathing when the air is polluted. These effects can be worse in anyone who spends significant periods of time exercising or working outdoors.

I've been trying to back up info I remember from my chemistry days, but can't find out too much. Anyway, what I do remember is that ozone is inherently unstable, and will revert back to oxygen pretty quickly. This is actually stated on the ozone3 site here. - they specify a mean time period of 20 minutes, depending on temperature, "after doing it's work", whatever that means.

The manufacturers claim they have found a way to hold the ozone in suspension, so to speak, by using extra virgin olive oil. Seems to me this is just a ploy to link the unlikely to a known beneficial product, olive oil. Why extra virgin oil instead of 2nd or 3rd pressing, for example?

I'm calling scam on this one. Anybody got any input?

There seem to be quite a few of these sort of products going around, and most of them are linked to alternative medicine, which immediately makes me doubt their credibility. Ach, I'm such a skeptic Here's another link I found in my searches - Medical Ozone Therapy.

 

[neutrino_cannon]

O3 is pretty harsh on bacteria, that's for sure. I'd hate the smell (which is familiar if you goof around with electrical arcs), and I'd hate to think of what it was doing to me.

On the other hand, after bubbling ozone through the olive oil it should be pretty sterile. I'm also having trouble believing that there would be any ozone left, it is, as you say, quite unstable.

 

[EvilBiker]

O3 is pretty harsh on bacteria, that's for sure. I'd hate the smell (which is familiar if you goof around with electrical arcs), and I'd hate to think of what it was doing to me.

The smell doesn't bug me too much (also having goofed around with electrical arcs ).

[Anecdote]

An acquaintance of mine who works at our bureau of standards swore that ozone kept him looking young by keeping his skin supple. His work kept him in the vicinity of some massive arcs which produced huge amounts of ozone - he used to test the ceramic insulation discs found on overhead power lines by zapping them with simulated lightning bolts.

He does look young for his age, but then , so do I

[/Anecdote]

On the other hand, after bubbling ozone through the olive oil it should be pretty sterile. I'm also having trouble believing that there would be any ozone left, it is, as you say, quite unstable.

Sure, the olive oil would be pretty sterile, but that's not the point. Passing off ozone as an asthma symptom remover seems very strange, when in fact in does exactly the opposite!

I'm also very skeptical about olive oil or any other organic material/liquid holding the ozone in it's volatile state...

 

[neutrino_cannon]

I was kind of toying with the idea that bubbling ozone through the olive oil might cause some sort of chemical change in it, ala hydrogenation, though I can't imagine anything in that vein. My chemistry isn't that good though, so take that cum taleno salis.

I've been having trouble finding out exactly what makes ozone break down. It may just break down on it's own, I don't know. I'm guessing there's a lot of O2 and oil when you rub it on though, probably not so much O3.

You know... if you just smelled the stuff, if they didn't cram it full of fragrance, you could figure out pretty easily if there was any ozone in there.