Pittsburgh's Beautiful Pollution

It is difficult to get people to pay attention to air pollution. Many people in our great city think that Pittsburgh's unhealthy air is not much of a concern. But in what seems like an unlikely merger, art and pollution are coming together to educate the public on just how serious our city's particle pollution problem is. 

A new art installation celled "Particle Falls" (pictured below) in downtown Pittsburgh is, in the words of artist Andrea Polli, "making the invisible visible."

Source: The Breathe Project/Scott Goldsmith

Andrea Polli is an artist whose work focuses on media and technology installations related to environmental causes. She is currently an Associate Professor of Art and Ecology at the University of New Mexico. In this piece, Polli uses a nephelometer (see graphic below) -- a specialized instrument that measures aerosol light scattering -- to measure the fine particulate matter in our air. A computer program interprets and provides a visualization of the data in real time. And that's what appears on the wall.

Those white dots you see in the picture above? Particles in our air. The more you see, the more particle pollution you are breathing in.  

Nephelometer
Source: US Dept. of Commerce

Particle Pollution

Also called particulate matter, these microscopic specks are a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles such as dust, dirt, soot, and smoke can be seen with the naked eye. Smaller particles can only be detected with an electron microscope. Sources of particulate matter include construction sites, unpaved roads, smokestacks, fires, power plants, and motor vehicles. 

In downtown Pittsburgh, diesel emissions from vehicles are a major source of particle pollution. As discussed previously in this blog, the serious health consequences of breathing in these fine particles are well-documented and include asthma, autism, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and others. 

Source: British Columbia Air Quality

Check It Out!

Particle Falls can be seen downtown on the facade of the Benedum Center in the 700 block of Penn Avenue though December 31, 2014. It runs from dusk until midnight. Particle Falls has also been shown in San Jose, CA and Philadelphia, PA. 

View this short video commissioned by The Breathe Project to learn more about this project. You can also attend an upcoming artist lecture and panel discussion on Saturday, December 13th.

Air pollution is one of our region's most pressing problems, yet it receives little attention from the public. Does this piece give you a new perspective on Pittsburgh's air pollution?