My heart beats faster when I see fireworks - the bright colors, the radiance, the starry glow in the dark time, plus the sounds of the Danube Waltz. This combination has been the epitome of the start of the new year for me for years. But the more I know, the less I can enjoy fireworks. Since I know the circumstances under which cheap goods are produced, I can no longer buy them.
The rapid and explosive (in the truest sense of the word) increase in particulate pollution caused by fireworks is something you notice very quickly after midnight. The view you had just before disappears in thick fog. However, you can't see the conditions under which the colorful splendor was created. But more on that later.
Particulate matter pollution
Throughout the year, around 2,050 tons of particulate matter are released in Germany through the burning of fireworks, the majority on New Year's Eve. In the hours after midnight, particulate matter (PM10 - particles lighter than 10 micrograms) measured values of up to several 1000 micrograms per m³ occur on an hourly average. Just how high this is becomes clear when you look at the maximum daily average limit set by the Federal Environment Agency, which is just 50 micrograms per m³.
But why does the maximum limit exist at all? Fine dust is unhealthy: heavy metals can accumulate on the surface of the dust, which can then enter the lungs and cause cancer. But the dust itself is also dangerous, the smaller the worse, it can even enter the bloodstream via the pulmonary alveoli, reach organs, make the blood thicker and lead to heart attacks or strokes.
If you look at the whole year, however, particulate matter from agriculture, especially factory farming, is much more relevant. According to researchers at the Max Planck Institute, agriculture is responsible for 45 percent of particulate matter in Germany.
Heavy metals
These are also often found in fireworks, on purpose - because they produce the bright colors. Heavy metals such as barium, strontium and copper are used and pollute our bodies as well as our environment. There is even lead in illegal fireworks, as indicated by increased lead concentrations on New Year's Eve.
The garbage...
The battlefield-like appearance that New Year's Eve leaves behind in many places reveals the next problem - the waste. Depending on the type, fireworks consist of 60-75 percent packaging and only the rest are the burning pyrotechnic sets. The packaging = garbage ends up everywhere, including on meadows, pastures and fields. Farmers are repeatedly calling for a ban on fireworks(bauernzeitung.at). Parts of the fireworks, some of which are razor-sharp and up to 5 cm in size, are difficult to find and therefore unfortunately also end up in green fodder, where they can seriously and even fatally injure farm animals.
Speaking of animals
Wild animals also suffer enormously from New Year's Eve fireworks. Many flee from the unfamiliar noise and flashes of light and only return to their territory weeks later. Radar measurements in the Netherlands have shown that thousands of birds fly to great heights on New Year's Eve to escape the bangs.
Social exploitation
But now a topic I didn't know about until recently... More than 80 percent of all firework rockets, bangers and firecrackers worldwide come from China. The second largest producer is India. Due to the peak season before the New Year, unskilled workers have to be employed, wages are low and occupational safety is a major problem. The workers handle incendiary devices and metal salts, which are inhaled or burn the skin on their hands. There is also a high risk of explosion in the halls. Research by Solidar Suisse revealed that there were 19 major accidents in China between 2015 and 2018, resulting in 92 deaths and 141 injuries.
And that's not all: in China, India, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru, child labor is still used in the production of fireworks - not officially, but illegally.
Beautiful alternatives
So how can we end the year in an ethical way? Light and laser shows offer similar effects to pyrotechnics, perhaps there is such a show in your area for New Year. In combination with music, such events are really impressive and beautiful. Confetti cannons can help out at home and conjure up beautiful colors in the air.
If you still want to see real pyrotechnics, then at least don't shoot them yourself. It's best to go to a professional fireworks display from a company that produces its own fireworks. You can find out where fireworks displays take place at feuerwerk-forum.de
On the one hand, professional fireworks are more beautiful, and on the other, you reduce the total amount of fireworks in the air. Professional fireworks also produce less garbage and plastic, as ball bombs and not rockets with lots of packaging are set off.
What's more, you won't burn your fingers and you'll also save money. If that's not enough advantages!
Author: Dr. Isabell Riedl
Dr. Isabell Riedl has been with LAMPERT since 2012 and is head of the sustainability and communications department. She studied ecology with a focus on nature and landscape conservation and tropical ecology at the University of Vienna. She wrote her dissertation on the importance of tree rows in agricultural areas for forest birds in Costa Rica. Throughout her life, she has been particularly committed to ecological sustainability. She is part of the editorial team of the online magazine "Nachhaltigkeit. Rethink."
