Dust can be a significant cause of throat and lung irritation for tunnel and mine workers and can even cause long-term serious health problems. But monitoring dust levels in a darkened tunnel has never been straightforward, until now.
Masato Shinji at Yamaguchi University in Japan says a camera can do the job simply by taking a flash photograph.
Dust specks appear as white dots in the image and software can count them to give a good idea of the amount of dust within the range of the flash gun, and hence its density in the air.
The result should be a better way to make sure that tunnels and mines are safe for workers, Shinji says.
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