According to an initial assessment by the Association of German Environmental Aid, the nationwide ban on the sale of fireworks has resulted in significantly lower levels of particulate matter in some places on New Year's Eve. “It is a success that the overall exposure has dropped significantly. Many people and animals had a calmer and healthier New Year's Eve, ”said Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch, according to a message from New Year's Day. According to an initial evaluation of official measurement data, the pollution of the air with the potentially harmful fine dust has decreased by well over 90 percent compared to last New Year's Eve without a ban in 2019/2020.
According to the information, the improvement in air quality was particularly clear in Bremen.
Here, at the Bremen Dobben measuring station, the hourly peak load for fine dust (PM 10) fell by 96 percent compared to January 1, 2020. In Munich, at the Landshuter Allee measuring station, the value fell by more than 90 percent.
On New Year's Eve, despite the sales ban, numerous firecrackers could be heard and rockets seen, some of which presumably came from illegal sources.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe had previously asked Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to completely ban New Year's Eve fireworks in the future.
The association works together with animal rights activists and doctors' representatives, among others, for a firecracker-free New Year's Eve.