Böllerei causes peak values for particulate matter
Measuring point on Friedberger Landstraße registers 218 times the load compared to the previous day.
Frankfurt smoke billowed through the streets on New Year’s Eve. A mist of burnt gunpowder, salts, and combustion dust. The particulate matter also rose sharply on New Year’s Eve, as expected.
There are four air measurement stations in Frankfurt: in Friedberger Landstraße, in Höchst, in Frankfurt-Ost and in Schwanheim. The measured values of the latter two are not very meaningful, since they are more of a background measurement. The air pollution on New Year’s Eve arrived with a delay and was greatly diluted. Friedberger Landstrasse and Höchst, on the other hand, are right in the middle of things. They measure dust smaller than ten micrometers (PM10) and smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5).
At the measuring station on Friedberger Landstraße, the PM2.5 particulate matter rose to 26.6 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) at midnight. Half an hour later the value was 479.5 µg/m³ – 19 times as much. And 218 times more than 24 hours before. The actual peak value was not recorded: at 12:30 a.m. the values were already falling again (source: www.hlnug.de/messwerte/datenportal/messstelle/2/1/0715/).
At 0.30 a.m. maximum values are registered in Frankfurt
The load dropped quickly. At one o’clock 292 µg/m³ were measured on the Friedberger, half an hour later around 100. At around 7 a.m. the fine dust PM2.5 was 16 micrograms per cubic meter of air, at 12.30 p.m. it reached 6.9 µg/m³ daily low.
The fine dust with a grain size of up to ten micrometers rose in the hour before midnight to 37.9. At 12.30 a.m. the value was 15 times higher, namely 561 µg/m³, but then also dropped steeply. An hour later, at 1:30 a.m., only 137 µg/m³ were still measurable. According to the Federal Environment Agency, the annual mean values for PM10 have fallen to below 20 µg/m³.
Frankfurt nitrogen values hardly changed
The nitrogen oxide values are also measured on Friedberger Landstrasse. However, the turn of the year is not significant here. The nitrogen dioxide values rose relatively evenly over the course of the day from 8 to 35 µg/m³. Half past midnight it was 49.2, trending unsurprisingly downward. The swings caused by the New Year’s Eve fireworks are significantly lower here and are overlaid by fluctuations that occur anyway. The value rose to almost 60 µg/m³ on the evening of January 1st.
A fine dust curve similar to that on Friedberger Landstraße can also be seen at the train station in Höchst, where the second measuring station is located. Here, too, the peak load was between midnight and 12:30 a.m. At 12.30 a.m., 220 µg/m³ were measured for PM2.5 and 254 µg/m³ for PM10. A short time later everything was back to normal.
Clear difference to the previous year
The exposure to dust and fine dust has no fixed limit values. This is because there are always solids in the air anyway, for example in the form of pollen. Evolution has created creatures that can handle it. Nevertheless, one should avoid unnecessary burdens. Whether the exposure to firecracker dust was unnecessary or not: one thing is clear: the difference to the previous year is clearly visible.
When lockdown and the sale of fireworks were still forbidden last year, a value of only 26 µg/m³ of PM2.5 was registered at the most prominent measuring point, Friedberger Landstraße, at 0.30 a.m. At around 30 µg/m³, PM10 was around half as high shortly after midnight as it was 20 hours later a year ago, at 8 p.m. on January 1, 2022. In addition: the dust pollution from firecrackers was so low that they occur in the daily fluctuations anyway didn’t notice. The previous year’s values in Höchst look similar. Here the exposure to PM2.5 at 12:30 a.m. was just over 50 µg/m³, a quarter of this year’s value, while PM10 was measured at just under 70 µg/m³, a third of the firecracker dust on Sunday night.
The measuring points in Frankfurt-Ost and Schwanheim show a different characteristic. In Frankfurt-Ost, the maximum value of PM10 was measured at just over 40 µg/m³ on Sunday between 3 and 4 a.m., in Schwanheim the plumes did not reach the measuring device until 5 a.m.