Particulate matter and Co.: How bad is firecrackers for people and the environment?

Particulate matter, anxious animals, full hospitals: every year, just in time for the turn of the year, the effects of fireworks are discussed. But how serious are the consequences of the fire really?

Some can hardly wait, for others it is a nuisance: firecrackers on New Year’s Eve. From today until December 31, fireworks are back on the market in Germany – for the first time in more than two years. The reason for the sales ban on pyrotechnics in 2020 and 2021 was the corona pandemic, in which the already full hospitals should not be further burdened. There are no restrictions this year – and yet the topic of firecrackers remains hotly debated.

Because even if the number of corona patients in the hospitals is significantly lower compared to previous years, there are independent factors to which the advocates of a firecracker ban regularly refer. But what about the individual points?

Three times more seriously injured on New Year’s Eve

“Everyone is aware that the hospitals are particularly busy on New Year’s Eve,” says Gerald Gass, CEO of the German Hospital Association. “Every year, the mixture of alcohol, mostly male high spirits and dangerous pyrotechnics challenges doctors, nurses and paramedics.”

According to an evaluation by the DKG, the number of people injured by fireworks has fallen by around two thirds as a result of the ban on selling firecrackers. On January 1, 2020, 111 seriously injured were treated in hospital, the following year only 32. “While the number of people injured by fireworks on New Year’s Day has tripled in previous years, January 1, 2021 was an average day with 32 admissions,” writes the DKG on that. In 2019, for example, there were a total of 10,137 seriously injured people in hospitals – an average of almost 28 per day. On New Year’s Day, however, there were 111 in one fell swoop, more than three times as many.

burns and lost limbs

This is also confirmed by Gernot Marx, President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI). The people who had to be treated in intensive care on New Year’s Eve or the days after suffered from burns or the loss of limbs, for example. “Most injuries happen outside of the norm, with homemade or unauthorized firecrackers.”

The emergency rooms are also significantly fuller on New Year’s Eve. “When a lot of people celebrate, there are of course more patients who need care,” says Marx. If a firecracker explodes too close to the ear, the high sound pressure can trigger what is known as bang trauma, for example. According to the Federal Environment Agency, around 8,000 people suffer damage to the inner ear from fireworks every year on New Year’s Eve.

In the past two years, things have been much more relaxed, at least from this point of view – which, however, was also urgently necessary in view of the many corona patients. But for this year, too, Marx is appealing to common sense when firecrackers are fired: “We currently have an enormous number of sick leave in the staff. This means we can take care of fewer patients at the moment. And of course we are happy about everyone who starts the new year healthy and not is absolutely dependent on our medical help.”

A good 2000 tons of fine dust are released

A direct consequence of setting off fireworks on New Year’s Eve is the release of fine dust. After Information from the Federal Environment Agency In the years before 2020, around 2050 tons of fine dust (PM10) were released around the turn of the year by burning fireworks – and thus within a very short time about one percent of the total amount of fine dust released annually in Germany. In the case of PM2.5, the proportion is even two percent. Especially in big cities, PM10 hourly values ​​of 1000 µg/m³ are not uncommon on New Year’s Eve – in comparison, the average PM10 concentration in German cities is around 18 µg/m³ per year.

The National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has 2019 in a statement for the then federal government analyzed the health hazards of particulate matter, among other things. There, a distinction is made between short-term and long-term fine dust pollution. “With short-term exposure, there is a 0.4 percent to 1.0 percent increase in the daily death rate for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) increase in daily PM10 exposure. Also, more people will die from asthma attacks, heart attacks, heart failure or hospitalized for stroke.”

Especially for people who are already ill, such as asthmatics, a short-term exposure to fine dust can be dangerous. Because fine dust can get into the lungs via the air – and the deeper the smaller the particles are.

Weather plays an important role

How quickly the fine dust pollution decreases again after the New Year’s Eve fireworks depends primarily on the weather conditions, says Achim Dittler, head of the gas-particle systems working group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The Federal Environment Agency also points this out. Wind and rain are favorable. In a high-pressure weather situation, on the other hand, the fine dust can remain in the air for up to a few days.

From Dittler’s point of view, however, the proportion of fine dust pollution from the fireworks is negligible when looking at the year as a whole. “Locally or regionally, the load can be very high for a day or two,” he says. “However, compared to what people in residential areas are exposed to on many more days of the year, for example from wood-burning stoves, exposure to fireworks plays a minor role.”

According to the Federal Environment Ministry, when it comes to fine dust, it is also focusing on measures in sectors that “contribute to reducing fine dust pollution all year round and nationally”, as a spokesman said when asked by the ARD fact finder communicates. The issue of fireworks is a “very local issue” due to factors such as weather conditions and the amount of fireworks burned off. “The municipalities are in the best position to make a decision here. They should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to allow fireworks or not.”

In the past two years with the ban on selling firecrackers, particulate matter emissions have fallen significantly at the turn of the year: According to the Federal Environment Agency, they corresponded to about an average day. For other air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide or ozone, the measuring stations would generally not show any significant abnormalities due to the burning of fireworks. According to estimates by the Federal Environment Agency, the CO2 emissions from fireworks are only of minor importance – their share of the annual greenhouse gas emissions in the country is 0.00013 percent.

Fireworks cause stress for animals

But fireworks aren’t the only thing that can harm people. The loud popping noises in particular also meant stress for the animal world, says Barbara Kohn from the clinic for small pets in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the Free University of Berlin. “Many animals are afraid of loud noises. It’s not like they get used to it either. In some cases, the panic gets bigger every year.” In the case of pets, it is therefore important not to leave them alone on New Year’s Eve and to close the windows. If necessary, a sedative can help after consultation with a veterinarian.

This is not possible with wild animals. New Year’s Eve is at least as stressful for them as it is for pets, says Stephanie Zein, research associate in the Department of Pets and Wild Animals at the Free University of Berlin. This applies to birds as well as mammals. “Animals that are in hibernation or hibernating are at risk of being awakened or startled.” This can stimulate their metabolism and increase energy consumption – and that with little food in winter.

In birds, for example, fireworks cause them to startle and try to flee. “The possibility exists that they simply wander around without orientation and, for example, fly into windows,” says Zein. “It may also be that they associate their actual resting places with fear and therefore avoid them.” However, it is not just the noise, the lighting effects and pollution caused by New Year’s Eve also have direct consequences for the animals.

Wild geese eat more after New Year’s Eve

The fireworks on New Year’s Eve also have long-term effects on wild animals. one Study by the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Biology in Konstanz and the Dutch Institute for Ecology According to the study, wild geese ate ten percent longer in the days after New Year’s Eve and moved significantly less during the day. The authors of the study suspect that this is related to the high energy consumption, since the birds spend much less time sleeping on New Year’s Eve and also fly higher and further than usual.

“The additional time that the birds flew on New Year’s Eve accounts for about five to ten percent of their normal daily energy requirements,” says Andrea Kölzsch from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, one of the study’s authors. “It doesn’t sound like much, but in the winter it’s not easy for the birds to eat a lot of grass in a short amount of time. If it’s a cold, severe winter, it can cause problems for them.”

One Study from 2015 also came to the conclusion that firecrackers on New Year’s Eve can lead to significant behavioral changes in wild birds. According to Kölzsch, the ban on selling firecrackers did not change much in the Corona years. “Nevertheless, we saw a clear reaction. I would conclude that it doesn’t matter to the birds whether 100 rockets go off or just 30.”

And farm animals like cows also react primarily to the noise, says Kerstin Müller from the clinic for cloven-hoofed animals in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the Free University of Berlin. ‘It has been found that noise triggers a stress response in animals that can lead to reduced feed intake and rumination activity.’ Short-term exposure to noise would primarily trigger panic reactions: “This is first expressed in a flight reaction. This is followed by the group standing still for about thirty minutes. Such behavior has also been reported by farmers whose cattle were exposed to nearby fireworks.”