Video ⟩ Children in Aloja kindergarten have been staying in rooms with elevated radon levels for several years

The measurements of the Radiation Safety Center of the State Environmental Service (VVD) found that the concentration of radon in the kindergarten in the manager’s office is over 1000 becquerels instead of the 200 allowed in Latvia. In the rooms where the children stayed, radon was less, but still above the norm.

The measurements in the kindergarten “Auseklītis” were carried out in 2017, and although the concentration was five times higher than allowed, the management of the council at that time did not act.

The former chairman of the Aloja council, Valdis Bārda (ZZS), admitted that he had not known anything about it, while the former head of the kindergarten, Sarmīte Freimane, disagreed with Bārda’s statement and stated that she had known about the situation before. At the same time, it was said that the deputies of that time knew about the situation, but lacked money.

The current management of the council has decided to close the kindergarten.

Dace Šatrovska, director of the Radiation Safety Center of VVD, told LTV that radon is a natural radioactive gas found in the Earth’s crust. It basically gets into buildings from the ground, cracks in walls, building materials and living rooms if they are poorly ventilated. “It is one of the risk factors that can increase lung diseases, including lung cancer,” said Shatrovska.

Alojas Kindergarten is one of 33 public buildings in Latvia in which the Radiation Safety Center found an elevated radon level as part of the project in 2017. In total, 243 buildings were inspected in Latvia.

The children of the “Auseklīša” kindergarten now stay in other kindergartens, while the municipality plans to sell the existing kindergarten building.

It is planned that the next measurement of radon gas in Latvian regions will be carried out in 2030 in a random manner.