Odor Threshold
The minimum odor of a water or air sample that can just
be detected after successive dilutions with odorless water. Also referred
to as "threshold odor."
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Open-loop Recycling
A recycling system in which a product made from one
type of material is recycled into a different type of product (e.g.,
used newspapers into toilet paper). The product receiving recycled
material itself may or may not be recycled.
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Organic Compound
Vast array of substances typically characterized as
principally carbon and hydrogen, but that may also contain oxygen,
nitrogen and a variety of other elements as structural building blocks.
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OSHA
Occupational Safety
and Health Administration
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Ozone Depletion
Destruction of the earth's ozone layer, which
can be caused by the photolytic breakdown of certain chlorine- and/or
bromine-containing compounds (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons),which catalytically decompose ozone molecules.
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Ozone Hole
A thinning break in the ozone layer. Designation
of amount of such depletion as an "ozone hole" is made when the detected
amount of depletion exceeds 50 percent. Seasonal ozone holes have been
observed over the Antarctic and arctic regions, part of Canada, and
the extreme northeastern United States.
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Ozone Layer
The protective
layer in the atmosphere, about 12-15 miles
above sea level, that absorbs some of the
sun's ultraviolet rays, thereby reducing the
amount of potentially harmful radiation that
reaches the earth's surface.
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Ozone (O3 )
A naturally occurring, highly reactive, irritating
gas comprising triatomic oxygen formed by recombination of oxygen in
the presence of ultraviolet radiation. This gas builds up in the lower
atmosphere as smog pollution, while in the upper atmosphere it forms
a protective layer that shields the earth and its inhabitants from excessive
exposure to damaging ultraviolet radiation.
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