Question about ozone depletion?

Question

Regarding ozone depleting substances, are halons and halogens the same thing?

Answer 1

halon is a chemical made up of brominated halogens used as a fire supressant. both have been linked to ozone depletion, but if you think of the one (halon) being made out of the other (halogens) you will have a better idea.

basically halogens are goup 17 in the periodicatable of elements; fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), astatine (At) it basically means a salt mixed with a metal.

To create halon and other types of CFCs and HCFCs, these basic elements were combined with carbon and hydrogen. these were used as propellants, refrigerants, and in fire-supression systems. Many of these have been or are being phased out, because they have been linked to diminished ozone in the upper atmosphere.
It is thought that since these chemicals are lightweight and unstable, that they collide with O3 (ozone) and break off oxygen molecules- diminishing the ability of the ozone layer to deflect harmful ultraviolet light.
The Montreal Protocol of 1987 was an international treaty to ban the use of HCFCs and CFCs among nations that are members of the UN.

Answer 2

HALON: is a combination of a paraffin (Alkane) like CH4 or C2H6
and a Halogen, Chlorine or Fluorine or both,and are called 'Haloalkanes'

Halon belongs to the group we know as 'CFC's (Chloro-Fluoro-Carbons), and in many areas it is no longer used. (Ozone depletion agents)

The Halogens are pure elements: Fluorine 'F', Chlorine 'Cl', Bromine 'Br' and Iodine 'I'.

These elements are not common in our atmosphere and don't constitute a threat to the Ozone layer.

Answer 3

They both cause it

The term ozone depletion is used to describe two distinct but related observations: a slow, steady decline of about 3 percent per decade in the total amount of ozone in Earth's stratosphere during the past twenty years; and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions during the same period. The latter phenomenon is commonly referred to as the ozone hole.

The detailed mechanism by which the polar ozone holes form is different from that for the mid-latitude thinning, but the most important process in both trends is believed to be catalytic destruction of ozone by atomic chlorine and bromine. The main source of these halogen atoms in the stratosphere is photodissociation of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compounds, commonly called freons, and of bromofluorocarbon compounds known as halons. These compounds are transported into the stratosphere after being emitted at the surface. Both ozone depletion mechanisms strengthened as emissions of CFCs and halons increased.

CFCs, halons and other contributory substances are commonly referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). Since the ozone layer prevents most harmful UVB wavelengths (270–315 nm) of ultraviolet light (UV light) from passing through the Earth's atmosphere, observed and projected decreases in ozone have generated worldwide concern leading to adoption of the Montreal Protocol banning the production of CFCs and halons as well as related ozone depleting chemicals such as carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethane (also known as methyl chloroform). It is suspected that a variety of biological consequences such as increases in skin cancer, damage to plants, and reduction of plankton populations in the ocean's photic zone may result from the increased UV exposure due to ozone depletion.

Scientists have been increasingly able to attribute the observed ozone depletion to the increase of anthropogenic halogen compounds from CFCs by the use of complex chemistry transport models