The order to evacuate two AU buildings has been lifted
The East Jutland Police have reopened access to the area between the Lakeside Lecture Theatres and the Social Sciences canteen and have lifted the evaluation order issued for both buildings earlier today.
According to a press release from the East Jutland Police (in Danish only), the likely cause of the eye pain and other symptoms experienced by a number of persons after spending time in the two buildings is ultraviolet radiation from a UV disinfection system in the Social Sciences canteen.
“We’ve determined that there was a UV system that had been left on by mistake. Taken together with our initial investigations and the symptoms experienced by the affected people, everything indicates that this is the cause. There’s no sign of any chemical or biological spills or discharge, so we’re concluding our investigation and lifting the cordon order,” states Assistant Commissioner René Raffo in a press release.
Twenty-three persons have been in contact with the healthcare system in connection with the incident. They all reported similar unpleasant physical symptoms, including burning eyes, after spending time on the Aarhus campus on Monday.
“It looks like they have what’s commonly known as ‘welder’s flash’, which is painful but fortunately not serious. Typically symptoms subside after one or two days, and it’s not something that causes permanent damage,” says Niels-Christian Emmertsen, a spokesperson for Central Denmark Region pre-hospital services.
Persons who experience severe pain or symptoms that don’t subside after a few days should contact their GP or the emergency medical services.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the police received reports from the healthcare services that multiple persons who had spent time in the university’s buildings on Monday were experiencing unpleasant symptoms, particularly itchy and burning eyes. As a result, part of the University Park was cordoned off, and experts from the Danish Emergency Management Agency and the Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness were called in.
In the end, however, it turned out not to be necessary to carry out extensive investigations to pinpoint the cause of the symptoms.
“We weren’t willing to take any chances at all, and so our initial emergency response was quite large-scale. There was a strong cross-agency collaboration, and we were assisted by the Danish Emergency Management Agency, the Home Guard, the fire brigade and the healthcare authorities. The university has also handled this really well, so we’d like to thank everyone for their efforts,” says Assistant Commissioner Raffo.