The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) expects that tomorrow, Easter Monday and Easter Monday, the air quality will be insufficient to bad due to the combination of Easter fires and the good weather.
“The Easter fires in Germany and the east of the Netherlands and the calm spring weather with an easterly wind ensure that there is a risk of smog due to particulate matter throughout the Netherlands from Saturday,” RIVM reports.
In Germany, Easter bonfires are traditionally lit on Thursdays and Fridays. As a result, the particulate matter concentrations can already rise before the Easter weekend. Easter fires will be lit in the Netherlands from tomorrow evening.
The RIVM expects that in large parts of the Netherlands the particulate matter concentrations are increased and nuisance can be experienced. The extent of the nuisance depends on the wind direction, wind speed and distance from the Easter fires.
Where the Easter fires go wrong, RIVM calls on people at home not to burn wood in stoves or fireplaces. This should prevent air quality from deteriorating further. This heating alert applies to Saturday and Sunday.
People with lung diseases, such as COPD, and (older) people with cardiovascular diseases, in particular, can suffer from the reduced air quality.
“An increased concentration of particulate matter in the air, together with other air pollution, can lead to reduced lung function, aggravation of asthma and COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and an increase in respiratory symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath,” the RIVM warns.
People who experience discomfort are advised to avoid strenuous physical exertion.