Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Grandi: "In addition to structural anti-smog measures, individual behaviours, such as not using bangs and fireworks, also contribute to improving the air in the city, protecting the health of citizens and our four-legged friends and of people in general. animals"

Milan, 28 December 2021 – Milan is increasingly attentive to protecting air quality and safeguarding the health of its citizens. In compliance with the "Air Quality Regulation", approved by the City Council last year, we would like to remind you that fireworks, fireworks, firecrackers, pyrotechnics and barbecues are prohibited during the upcoming holidays. In reality the ban is continuous in the city, from 1 October to 31 March, and has a dual utility: reducing PM10, i.e. the polluting particles harmful to the lungs of Milanese people, improving the quality of the air, and at the same time protecting the well-being of the many four-legged friends present in Milanese homes and families and of all the city's fauna. According to data from the INEMAR emissions yearbook drawn up by ARPA, fireworks are responsible for 6% of the PM10 present in the city during the entire year.

"This provision, regulated by the Air Regulation approved by the City Council, is not intended to be a banal ban on barrels, but rather aims to raise awareness among citizens on the issues of safety and protection of the health of people, animals and the environment". Thus the Environment and Green Councilor Elena Grandi, who continues: "The explosion of fireworks and barrels is particularly harmful and releases various harmful substances in massive quantities such as potassium, strontium, barium, magnesium, aluminium, sulphur, titanium, manganese, copper, chromium and lead. In addition to the weather and structural or temporary anti-smog measures, individual behavior also contributes to improving the quality of the city's air."

The provision is also confirmed by the data recorded in recent years by the various stations of the ARPA network which, in the night between 31 December and 1 January, show an increase in concentrations, with a peak from midnight to the very early hours of the morning of the first day of the year. An increase in air pollution due precisely to New Year's Eve fireworks which unfortunately make a significant contribution to the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 both due to the type of combustion and the composition of the barrels themselves.

According to WWF estimates, every year in Italy several thousand animals die due to year-end riots. Of these, most are urban fauna, especially birds, but there are also dogs, cats and other pets who, in terror, can find themselves wandering the streets and involved in road accidents or suffering heart attacks. . Please remember that the same Air Regulation also provides for the ban on cigarette smoking outdoors, except in isolated places: from public transport stops to parks, up to cemeteries and sports facilities, such as stadiums. Again according to the INEMAR emissions yearbook drawn up by ARPA, tobacco combustion is responsible for 7% of PM10 in the city.