Lübeck air quality on September 28th, 2025: Fine dust alarm or is everything good?

Lübeck air quality on September 28th, 2025: Fine dust alarm or is everything good?

Air quality in Lübeck is being closely monitored today, September 28, 2025. Various pollutants in the air are recorded at the measuring station on Moislinger-Allee in St. Lorenz-Süd. The focus is particularly on fine dust particles of size PM10. The limit value for these particles is 50 per cubic meter of air, although this may be exceeded 35 times per year.

The measuring station also determines values ​​for nitrogen dioxide and ozone. These pollutants are divided into different categories to evaluate air quality. Very poor values ​​for nitrogen dioxide exceed 200 μg/m³, while corresponding limit values ​​of over 100 μg/m³ and over 240 μg/m³ apply to fine dust and ozone. Poor to moderate results should encourage particularly sensitive people to avoid physical exertion outdoors. Only when the air quality is “good” or “very good” are no health effects to be expected. The Lübecker Nachrichten makes a significant contribution to this valuable information.

Improvements in air quality

Positive news comes from the Federal Environment Agency: In 2024, all air quality limits worldwide were met. Dirk Messner, President of the Federal Environment Agency, points out that targeted measures to keep air clean have taken place from the EU right up to the local level. We owe these successes, among other things, to electrification in transport and stricter emissions standards. However, experts warn, there is still a long way to go. The limit values ​​still date back over 20 years and are no longer up to date. The WHO recommends significantly lower guidelines in order to protect people's health even better. In the future, stricter limit values ​​will also apply from 2030, as Umweltbundesamt also emphasizes.

However, current measurements show that 44% of the measuring stations for nitrogen dioxide and 4% for particulate matter do not yet meet these new standards. To further improve air quality, there are also plans to introduce a national air quality index and measure ultrafine particles at certain locations.

The health danger from air pollutants

The health effects of air pollution are alarming. According to reports from the European Environment Agency, there were almost 70,000 deaths from fine dust and over 28,000 from nitrogen dioxide in Germany in 2022. An intensive examination of data protection guidelines shows that simply adhering to the WHO recommendations could have brought about a massive reduction in deaths. Specific demands that bring forward the limit values ​​from 2028 and implement the new standards into national law are being raised by Deutsche Umwelthilfe. Everyone agrees: In order to protect the population, quick action is required. Deutsche Umwelthilfe is also certain that methane emissions in particular must be reduced for ozone pollution.

Air quality remains a constant topic of public interest. With continued progress and awareness of the health risks, we may soon see a noticeable improvement. The goal is clear: the air we breathe should be clean and healthy – for us and future generations.