In all probability, the air in Lähte Coeducational Gymnasium contains carcinogenic formaldehyde above WHO-advised ceiling.
Schoolhouse stinks of hazardous chemicals
15th October 2013, 17:21
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For the second year running, Building C of Lähte Coeducational Gymnasium, in Tartu Commune, is host to an experiment with health of schoolchildren. This year, primary school kids were drawn into the test. The parents of the little ones, however, have raised rebellion against school leadership.
On the first storey, flooring has been changed and there the stink is not that bad; even so, in the library nearby, it can again be sniffed – there, the floor has not been changed. The smell is distinctly chemical, getting especially ugly in the corridor on second storey. In the classrooms, the smell is weaker, with the exception of arts class – competing with the corridor.
The sense of smell of builders of the house – from Merko Tartu – is somewhat different. On the second storey, they claim to have detected no stink.
Headaches and nausea
Postimees, however, holds a fresh letter by Health Board to Tartu Commune elder, presenting results of school indoor air measurements: volatile organic compounds, in the school corridor, amount to 0.3 milligrams per cubic metre; formaldehyde is 0.06 mg/m3. The WHO indicative ceiling being 0.05 mg/m3. At that, the results were obtained while ventilation was working full blast. Also, the sample comes from a single point; in the opinion Urve Kallavus, head of Centre for Materials Research, the test results cannot be taken seriously.
The Health Board letter says, point blank, that formaldehyde is a strong allergen which may cause allergic cold and various respiratory sicknesses. Some people are hypersensitive towards formaldehyde, and, according to classification by International Agency for Research on Cancer, it is probably a carcinogenic substance.
But let’s talk in the language of children: of seven graders fresh from a cookery lesson, two girls confessed to suffering from headaches, in this very part of the building. In the 1st grade, four-five kids told of headaches, some also of nausea. Also, the throat gets dry and sore; by end of school-day, some children have redness of eyes. In 2nd, grade, even more children tell the same story.
Section C of the said schoolhouse was completed last spring; main contractor being Merko Tartu. Despite the complaints that immediately started regarding the chemical smell spreading in classrooms and corridor, it was decided – this fall – to relocate primary school into the same building.
Already in April, a parent Janika Lill sent the headmaster Üllar Loks a letter, in the name of the primary school parents, noting that they were worried concerning the air quality: may the children spend the entire day in the building? In the spring, Ms Lill also wrote Health Board, asking why the cause of the smell remained unexplained and whether it had hazardous effects on health.
True, during summer the school did change flooring in the teachers’ room (sic!) on the second storey, and of the corridor downstairs. Also, the ventilation system was rebuilt.
Now, even Tartu Commune was filed a demand to get rid of the unpleasant smell on the second storey of Building C, no later than during the upcoming school holidays. However, even this time around, the commune’s solution is half baked: flooring will be changed and glue removed in the second storey corridor only. Allegedly, the classrooms smell less, therefore these floors will not be changed.
Kaire Loit, a parent of a 2nd grader at the school, is especially disturbed by how the commune elders are changing the floorings, bit by bit, and believing what the building company tells them. Instead, they might have the flooring tested. «In the opinion of me and of other parents, this is a stone age trial and error thing, here,» said Ms Loit. «For the second year running, they are playing with the kids’ health, and nobody is held responsible!»
Probably, the smell is caused by the flooring glue; the much serious question being: why is it still smelling, a year and a half after the building was completed?
According to professor emeritus Urve Kallavus, they should heed the ministerial order, to begin with, explicitly stating that a school’s interior climate may not cause children health disorders. «On the other hand, expert assessment needs to be acquired for the floor, meaning that a piece of the upper layer, glues and the rough floor, then studying by scientific methods to see what stinks,» said Ms Kallavus.
Commune bought new flooring
A floor built wrong may cause severe health problems. «It needs to be studies if the concrete underneath the flooring is still basic [chemically] or not,» said Ms Kallavus. «Basic concrete and PVC-covering will react with each other, producing very very carcinogenic additional substances.»
Üllar Loks, headmaster of Lähte Gymnasium also sits as chairman of Tartu Commune council. «We decided to first fix the ventilation and see what happens,» said he. «During the summer, ventilation was indeed fixed; even so, in August it became evident that the smell had not disappeared to the degree we had hoped. Well we all did detect the smell last year, already; but the builder kept telling us that this kind of smell comes with new buildings.»
Now even Mr Loks admits something has gone wrong during the construction. The builder will not confess to it, but, according to Mr Loks, they have been kind enough to install new covering purchased by commune, for free.
According to Tartu Commune elder Aivar Soop, flooring will not be changed in the classrooms, as these do not smell. «With classroom doors shut and ventilation running, strong smell is only felt in the corridor,» said he.
According to Mr Soop he has no idea why these floors still smell. «The issue is: what is Merko’s fault, right now?» said Mr Soop.
Indeed: according to Jelena Laarin, senior inspector at Health Board Southern Service, Estonian law lays no maximum levels for formaldehyde nor volatile organic compounds.
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Builder cannot tell smell
According to Juhan Varik, Lähte Schoolhouse Building C project director at Merko Tartu, all materials were compliant with standards.
Which was the subcontractor gluing flooring?
Lähte School crafts house was built by Merko Tartu AS. The flooring was laid by Giraldo OÜ. In the house, floorings prescribed by project design have been used– Forbo Smaragd Synergy, Forbo Effect Linea, Tarkett Stella Nature – and the glue Kiilto Extra.
What, in your estimation, causes the smell spreading in the building?
After receiving question posed by you, we went to the location and detected no smell on the second floor.
Why is Merko Tartu, as main contractor of the building, unwilling to change the flooring under guarantee?
Merko Tartu AS has always done the needed guarantee work. On this object, guarantee is in force till April 30th, 2015.
In your opinion, do the flooring materials comply with standards?
All materials are in line with the project, and comply with standards.