New
Year, when you could "cut the air with a knife"
... The latest analyses by the German Federal
Environment Agency show that on New Year's Day, atmospheric pollution with fine
dust particles hazardous to health is in many places higher than at any other
time of year. PM10 hourly values of up to 4000 µg/m3 (4000 µg/m3 = 4000 microgrammes of PM10
per cubic metre of air) are no exception in major cities in the first hour of
the New Year. By way of comparison, the average PM10 concentration for 2006 at
urban measuring stations in Germany was around 30 µg/m3.
In rural areas near to cities, the PM10 hourly values
do not reach such peaks. But as soon as the fine dust in the air has been
transported by the wind from the cities, the PM10 concentration in these areas
also climbs to around 150 µg/m3.
Only at remote rural measuring stations do the New
Year's fireworks not affect the measured PM10 values.
Consequences
and health hazards
It has been proved that breathing in fine dust is
hazardous to human health. For fine particles, there is no minimum threshold
below which no hazardous effects are to be expected. The effects range from
temporary impairment of the respiratory tract and an increased need for
medication by asthma sufferers to elevated levels of hospital admissions for
respiratory diseases and cardiovascular problems together with an increase in
the death rate.
Please help reduce fine dust pollution on New Year's
Eve. Limit the number of fireworks you let off at home or do without them
altogether. This would also help reduce the volume of waste generated by
firework packaging and wrapping and the considerable amount of energy used to
produce the fireworks.
Source:
Background paper by the German Federal
Environment Agency, http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/luft/schadstoffe/downloads/silvester_pm10.pdf
(in German)
For the years 2003 to 2007 you find an animation of the
development of the atmospheric pollution with fine dust particles in Germany by
New Year's fireworks under