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GOOD OZONE VS. BAD OZONE

PURE (GOOD)  OZONE

Pure Ozone is not to be confused with smog, which is commonly referred to as Ozone. Ozone is Mother Nature's perfect purifier. It is produced by lightning (that "fresh air smell" after a lightning storm) and by ultra-violet radiation; it purifies our environment naturally.  Ozone gas is created when a single Oxygen atom (O) joins with an Oxygen molecule (O₂) to form Ozone (O₃).  It is an unstable molecule consisting of three atoms of oxygen and quickly breaks off its extra oxygen atom. This lone oxygen atom goes in search of another atom to bond to. If it finds another oxygen atom it will form a new molecule of normal oxygen; however, if it finds a carbon-based molecule it will break into that molecule destroying it in the process. Many pollutants are carbon-based. Pure Ozone is an extremely effective oxidizing agent which is used to purify water and to disinfect air by killing bioaerosols (airborne biological contaminants such as mold, dust mites, fungi, spores and pollen).

SMOG (BAD) OZONE

Low level or surface Ozone, otherwise known as smog, is formed when oxygen combines with volatile organic compounds (nitrogen oxides from motor vehicle and power plant emissions, landfills and solvents) chemically react in the presence of sunlight and warmth.  It is smelly, obnoxious, unhealthy and will never have that after-a-summer-storm aroma that characterizes the "good" Ozone, simply because it is made by an entirely different process.

Ozone smog, commonly referred to as Ozone, is actually polluted Ozone.
It has the same relationship to pure Ozone that polluted water has to pure water.

Please read the information from these other sources:
     A more detailed but not impossible-to-understand description of Ozone, both good and bad:
                     Chemical Description of Ozone
     More details on Ozone, how it is created and how it works:
                     Ozone Q & A