The municipality of Kroczyce in action for the Polish Smog Alarm campaign "See what you breathe. Change it!"

The municipality of Kroczyce is participating in the Polish Smog Alarm campaign, during which mechanical lungs have been borrowed to measure air pollution in the municipality from March 6 to March 20, 2024. The campaign aims to draw attention to the dramatic air quality caused by the burning of improper fuel in households and raise awareness among residents about the air pollution problem.

In the Silesian Voivodeship, there is an anti-smog resolution specifying the deadlines for replacing old boilers and indicating which fuels should not be burned. Unfortunately, despite existing legal regulations, the pace of replacing outdated heating systems is too slow to significantly improve air quality.

Therefore, the municipality of Kroczyce is doing everything possible to strengthen the message in this direction, including through an educational and informational campaign. The municipality also wants to draw residents' attention to the issue of pollution and raise public awareness.

The mechanical lungs are a two-meter model of human lungs that "breathe" and absorb pollutants from the air, settling on the white matter covering the installation. The device is set up for two weeks, during which it will accumulate dust and, depending on the level of air pollution, take on a darker, graphite, or even black color. Several days of air filtering will show what the residents of the municipality of Kroczyce breathe every day. In addition to the visual presentation and changing color of the lungs, the installation also displays real-time air quality readings, including PM10 and PM2.5 particulate matter.

Air pollutants are often invisible and, therefore, overlooked. Since the municipality's primary goal is to improve air quality, it wants to highlight the scale of the problem by joining the Polish Smog Alarm campaign.

Text and photo: Aneta Szczechla, eco-adviser of the municipality of Kroczyce