Researchers and artists joined forces for a so-called “painting with light” international project to make invisible air pollution in India visible, demonstrating the health risks posed to the population.

Combining digital light painting and low-cost air pollution sensors, the scientific team produced photographic evidence of pollution levels in cities across three countries – India, Ethiopia and the UK – to spark debate among local communities.

Their findings, published in ‘Nature Communications Earth & Environment’ on Wednesday, record how photographs taken as part of the ‘Air of the Anthropocene’ initiative stimulated discussion around the impact of air pollution.

The illustrations covered two children’s playgrounds in India, 500 km apart – one in urban Delhi, the other in rural Palampur – with Particulate Matter (PM2.5) values at the Palampur playground at least 12.5 times less than those measured in Delhi.

“Air pollution is the leading global environmental risk factor. 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,” said Professor Francis Pope, an environmental scientist from Birmingham University and co-creator of the project with artist Robin Price.

“Air of the Anthropocene 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,” he said.

Air pollution also varied dramatically between locations in Ethiopia – a kitchen using biomass stoves for food preparation where PM2.5 concentrations in the room were up to 20 times greater than what was measured nearby outdoors.

In Wales, large variations in air pollution around the Tata Steel-owned Port Talbot steelworks showed air quality monitoring and light painting at dusk in summer measured higher PM2.5 concentrations than the hourly average value.

Particulate Matter, or PM, is the air pollutant most responsible for human morbidity and mortality. It has multiple impacts on physical health and is responsible for diseases, including heart disease, stroke, and cancers.

The "painting with light" team used low-cost air pollution sensors to measure PM mass concentrations. It took the sensors’ real-time signal to control a moving LED array programmed to flash more rapidly as PM concentration increased.

“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,” shared photographer Price.

A long exposure photograph is taken with the artist moving the LED array in front of the camera, the flash becoming a dot on the photograph.

The artist is not seen in the photo because they are moving, but light flashes from LEDs are seen because they are bright. The more light dots appear in the photographs, the higher the PM concentration.

Co-author Carlo Luiu, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “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.” The Air of the Anthropocene project has been exhibited at gallery shows in Los Angeles, Belfast, and Birmingham.

The project has also been used to raise air pollution awareness by the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and UN-Habitat, which commissioned four pollution light paintings and texts to be displayed in Kampala, Uganda.

Air pollution is considered one of the main threats to both the environment and human health and a leading cause of death globally.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates 99 per cent of the global population breathe polluted air, causing approximately 7 million premature deaths worldwide each year.

"The situation is particularly challenging in Asia, where air pollution remains a major problem in countries like India and China, despite several air quality policies and actions. African countries have experienced significant deterioration in air quality over the last five decades," a University of Birmingham statement noted.

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