BERLIN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Environmental Action Germany (DUH) is seeking a ban on private New Year's Eve fireworks as a measure to prevent air pollution in cities, the environmental lobby group announced on Monday.

The DUH had submitted formal applications to 31 German cities in which particulate pollution exceeded the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Every year, the archaic fireworks cause thick air in our cities at the start of the year..." said DUH executive director Juergen Resch.

Particulate matter is an air pollutant that can harm people with asthma or other respiratory diseases, pregnant women and children.

In the European Union, particulate matter values of 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air were currently permitted on an annual average. The WHO recommended 20 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

The cities of Berlin and Munich had already announced to examine a ban of private fireworks in certain parts of the city centers on New Year's Eve.

Resch called on other German cities to follow this example, noting that "many hundreds of thousands of people with respiratory diseases, such as severe asthma, flee their homes at the turn of the year or have to barricade themselves in an airtight manner".

Back in January, DUH had already announced that it would pursue a firecracker prohibition in German cities.

Within a few hours of New Year's Eve celebrations, firecrackers released around 5,000 tons of particulate matter, which corresponded to about 16 percent of the total particulate matter produced by German road traffic each year, according to DUH.