Watch: Timelapse of Delhi Smog Turning Lungs Black in 10 Days!

A pair of faux lungs have been installed at Sir Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi to gauge effects of air pollution.

A pair of faux lungs have been installed out Sir Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi to gauge effects of air pollution.

(Photo Courtesy: Help Delhi Breathe altered by FIT)

Air quality in New Delhi has plummeted to severe levels over the last couple of days. As the city struggles with the extremely harmful air quality, a pair of faux lungs were installed by the Help Delhi Breathe initiative, the Lung Care Foundation and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. The installation was put up on 3 November in an attempt to raise awareness about air pollution and to show its detrimental effects on the lungs of those living in Delhi. It turned black by the 10th day and was taken down on the 11th day on 13 November.

Camera: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Editor: Vishal Kumar

The lungs were made of HEPA filters same as those used in face masks and they have fans inside them to pull in the air and mimic the function of human lungs. A similar pair was put up in Bangalore in February 2018. It was grey by the third day and turned black in over three weeks.

A similar development was observed in Delhi as well where by the third day, the lungs turned a dirty grey.

The faux lungs on the third day.(Photo Courtesy: Help Delhi Breathe)

India is home to 14 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world (WHO). Breathing in polluted air is costing the world 7 million lives every year and causing harm to more than a billion people. Additionally, children under the age of 5 breathe twice the rate that adults do.

As a result, they are more susceptible to inhaling greater levels of air pollutants. According to the WHO report, at least 1,00,000 children below 5 years died in India in 2016, due to complications in their health that was brought about by increased levels of outdoor and indoor air pollution.

Every day 1.8 billion children, which makes around 93 percent of the world’s children under the age of 15 years, breathe air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at serious risk.