We actually get to see air pollution in the winter in Delhi, when the capital gets its soupy, dirty grey smog cover, its daily particulate matter (PM) count exceeding the World Health Organisation's safe limit by 10 times on a good day and by 30 times on a bad one.
But other than that air pollution is invisible leaving doctors without clues to health risks involved.
However, researchers and artists combined forces recently to ‘paint with light’ or, paint pollution with light, to make it visible to people and help them understand how their health could be impacted if exposed to it.
Three countries, India, Ethiopia, and the UK, were chosen for the study. Low-cost air pollution sensors and digital 'light' painting (creating vibrant images with a photographic technique that uses a moving light source and long exposure times) enabled the team to come up with photographic evidence of pollution levels across the three countries.
Two children's playgrounds, 500 km apart in urban Delhi and rural Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, were studied. PM 2.5 values in Palampur at 30-40 micrograms per cubic metre contrasted sharply with Delhi levels of 500-600 micrograms per cubic metre, that were 12.5 times higher.
In Ethiopia air pollution levels varied dramatically between locations. PM2.5 concentrations in a kitchen using biomass stoves to prepare food were 20 times higher than outdoor spots close by.
In Wales too there were large variations in air pollution. Through light painting and air quality monitoring around the Port Talbot steelworks PM2.5 concentrations at dusk were measured in the range of 30-40 mg/m3 compared to the hourly average value of 24 mg/m3.
The findings by an international team of researchers and artists who were part of the project created by artist Robin Price and University of Birmingham environmental scientist Prof Francis Pope were published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment – recording how photographs taken as part of the ‘Air of the Anthropocene’ project had stimulated discussion around the impact of air pollution.
Air pollution was a leading global environment risk factor, said Prof Pope. "By painting with light to create impactful images, we provide people with an easy-to-understand way of comparing air pollution in different contexts - making something that was largely invisible visible."
The technique was a little tricky but not too difficult to understand. The team used low-cost air pollution sensors to measure PM mass concentrations and took the sensors’ real time signal to control a moving LED array (LED packages or chips arranged in a pattern) programmed to flash more rapidly as PM concentration increased.
On the light painting approach, photographer Price said, “By providing a visual understanding of air pollution that is accessible to people who don’t necessarily have a scientific background, the light painting approach can demonstrate that managing air pollution levels can have a significant impact on people’s day-to-day lives.”
This is how it's done. A long exposure photograph is taken with the artist moving the LED array in front of the camera, with the flash becoming a dot on the photograph. The artist is moving so is not seen in the photo, but light flashes from LEDs are seen because they are bright. The more light dots appear in the photographs, the higher the PM concentration.
“Air of the Anthropocene (a proposed geological epoch dated from the time human activities have started affecting the environment and impacting the earth's geology, ecosystems and climate) creates spaces and places for discussion about air pollution, using art as a proxy to communicate and create dialogues about the issues associated with air pollution,” added Prof Pope.
“Thanks to the power of images, we can provoke people’s emotions - fostering awareness and prompting people to share their perspectives and take action to tackle air pollution,” said co-author Carlo Luiu, from the University of Birmingham.
The Air of the Anthropocene project has exhibited at gallery shows in Los Angeles, Belfast, and Birmingham. The project has also been used to raise air pollution awareness by UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and UN-Habitat, which commissioned four pollution light paintings and texts to be displayed in Kampala, Uganda.
The planet and human health face grave risks because of air pollution. It's a leading cause of death globally. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates 99% of the global population breathes polluted air, causing approximately 7 million premature deaths worldwide each year.
Countries like India and China face major pollution challenges despite several air quality policies and actions.
African countries have experienced significant deterioration in air quality over the last five decades.
Fine particles (PM2.5) pose the greatest health risk, getting deep into the lungs, even entering the bloodstream.
It is responsible for diseases including heart disease, stroke, and cancers.
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