It looks a lot like "real" snow, except that it leaves a very thin coat.
Industrial snow, however, is less magical: it is water molecules that have frozen around fine particles, these pollutants from combustion.
A pollution usually invisible but very toxic, made visible by this frightening and enchanting phenomenon.
“Today, these are the most toxic pollutants in our country,” says Thomas Bourdrel, radiologist and researcher at the Icube laboratory at the University of Strasbourg on the health effects of air pollution.
“The merit of this industrial snow is to make hidden pollution visible.
It reminds people that they live in a neighborhood heavily polluted by these particles.
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Industrial snow is a very local phenomenon: from one district to another in the same city, this snow will not necessarily fall.
“It always affects neighborhoods located next to industrial areas, or major highways, explains Dr. Bourdrel.
These areas have greater particulate pollution, caused by the combustion of diesel, gasoline or fuel oil.
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Heating, road traffic and industry are the main culprits.
However, there are often no sensors to measure the volume of fine particles next to these industrial areas, due to a lack of permits.
“Every citizen should have the right to breathe clean air, but above all to be aware of the air quality around their home.
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