High fine dust values ​​in winter

High particulate matter pollution in the winter months

24/01/2013

Increased particulate matter concentrations are a risk to health that should not be underestimated. In the winter months, the particulate matter pollution often rises significantly due to the special weather conditions, as well as the head of the Department of Air Pollution in the Hessian State Office for Environment and Geology, Stefan Jacobi, in a recent interview with the „Hessian Broadcasting“ (hr) confirmed.

In Hessen, significant exceedances of the permissible limit have been detected in many particulate matter monitoring stations over the past few days, reports „hr-online“ citing the statement of Stefan Jacobi. According to the head of the Department of Air Pollution Control in the Hessian State Office for Environment and Geology „only four of the 33 air measurement stations in Hesse on Wednesday under the prescribed daily value“ of a maximum of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air. At some measuring points an extremely drastic excess of this upper limit was found. For example, the particulate matter load in Reinheim reached a value of 150 micrograms per cubic meter of air and Fulda also reached a value of more than 130 micrograms.

Increased risk of respiratory diseases due to particulate matter
Particulate matter is one of the major risk factors for respiratory diseases. Both the morbidity and the mortality of respiratory diseases increases according to current research at high particulate matter concentrations. The mortality due to cardiovascular diseases also increases with high particulate matter pollution. However, the effects of particulate matter are highly dependent on the particle size and toxicity of the pollutants it contains. In order to minimize the health risks to the population as far as possible, the EU has already set in 2005 that the daily limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air may be exceeded for a maximum of 35 days per year. Although this timeframe for exceeding the limit is respected in most regions of Germany, overshooting of the daily limit is not uncommon in the winter months. The increased particulate matter pollution found in Hesse was „not unusual for this season“, explained Stefan Jacobi.

Winter weather as a cause of increased particulate matter concentration
In the winter, the fine dust concentration increases according to the expert, especially due to the special weather conditions. Thus, the wind speeds are currently particularly low, which limits the horizontal air exchange. Also, the cool temperatures would have become a so-called „Temperature inversion“ where warm air lays on the cold air like a lid, preventing vertical air exchange. „Pollutant transport is restricted both vertically and horizontally and there is a higher load“, explained the weather expert of the „Hessian Broadcasting“, Tim Staeger, the consequences of the phenomenon. This has meant that, for example, in Fulda in mid-January, the permissible limits have already been exceeded on five days. However, the experts did not critically assess these limit violations. She is still lying „as part of“, Jacobi emphasized.

Tendency of decreasing fine dust pollution
According to the Hessian State Office for the Environment and Geology, the 35-day limit set by the EU in 2012 was not exceeded at any of the measuring stations, which Jacobi described as a certain success. However, the measured particulate matter pollution would still be too close to the limit and natural weather conditions could quickly lead to an exceedance of the daily limit, the expert continued. However, the trend observed by the State Office for the Environment and Geology to reduce particulate matter concentrations since 2005 is gratifying. This is at least partly due to a slight reduction in traffic, the more environmentally friendly cars and the associated lower particulate matter emissions. However, according to the experts, the weather conditions also play a significant role. (Fp)

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Diabetes due to fine dust
Significant health risks due to particulate matter

Picture credits: Jörg Sabel