For by demonstrating that inert chlorofluorocarbons, instead of vanishing harmlessly into thin air, can scar the ozone layer Rowland and Molina have shown us that we may well have succeeded in inflicting a chronic and irreversible disease upon the atmosphere, which is the very lung of the earth. For better or for worse, however, they have also provided us with a valuable lesson in the crucial necessity of testing potentially harmful substances-before putting them on the market-for their consequences both in the environment and upon human beings who will come in contact with them.
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