“This unpleasant smell is not ours!” Latvia denied information from Finland

There was an unpleasant smell in Helsinki on Sunday. The Finnish Meteorological Institute suggested that the smell might have come from Kemeri National Park.

A representative of the OPP explained that hydrogen sulfide sources have a strong specific aroma, but are not able to affect air quality at a distance of more than 400 kilometers. Sources of hydrogen sulfide water are one of the unique natural values ​​of the Ķemeri National Park, and this is the only place in Europe where a facility of this kind is located so close to the sea.

Hydrogen sulfide ponds are reservoirs formed in the vicinity of mossy swamps, which are replenished by the influx of water from sources containing hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide springs are located along a 700-meter strip, on which large spill sites and hydrogen sulfide ponds have formed in the central part.

Hydrogen sulfide is a heavy, water-soluble gas with a characteristic odor of rotten eggs. In high concentrations it is deadly poisonous, but in diluted form and in sediments of swamps and lakes, or medicinal mud, it is used for medicinal purposes. This property of hydrogen sulfide formed the basis for the creation of the famous resort of Ķemeri, which since the 18th century has helped restore the health of a large number of people.

The head of the regional administration of the UOP, Meldra Priedena, explained that the process of formation of hydrogen sulfide water occurs deep under the surface layers of the swamp, therefore, in the swamp itself, most often no smell is felt at all, with the exception of certain places where water seeps to the surface.

A specific smell is felt while staying in the immediate vicinity of a spill of hydrogen sulfide water, especially in summer, when due to drought and evaporation of water, the concentration of sulfur in the water increases. However, the smell does not spread over long distances, Priedena emphasizes.

In addition, the smell is definitely felt indoors, for example, in the departments for mud and water procedures of medical institutions. But neither the Public Administration Office nor the Jurmala city government received complaints from local residents regarding a strong odor in the environment.

In the Ķemeri National Park at the Raganu (Witch) swamp, the OPP has created a special trail of wooden walkways to give tourists the opportunity to get acquainted with this rare natural site. A rather unusual picture in this place opens in the spring, when microorganisms multiply in the ponds, which color the pond water yellow.