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VEGETABLES WITH ARSENIC AND HONEY WITH MERCURY
arminfo
Wednesday, July 25, 21:33
Vegetables with arsenic and honey with mercury - these are the results
of development of ore mining industry in Armenia.
"Almost all the regions with ore mining industry have experienced
penetration of heavy metals into food chains. As a result, the local
population in many regions is almost deprived of the opportunity to eat
uncontaminated products", Armen Saghatelyan, Director of the Center for
Ecological-Noosphere Studies (CENS) of the National Academy of Sciences
of Armenia, told ArmInfo. He added that the thorough scientific surveys
have shown that the key risk factor is not the main ore elements but
the secondary elements, i.e. the admixtures, which are not taken into
account when preparing the feasibility studies of development of the
deposits. Saghatelyan brought the example of the mercury in Kajaran
deposit, which penetrated not only into the vegetables and fruits,
but also into the milk and honey.
Saghatelyan pointed out that very high cadmium contamination has
been revealed near Akhatala deposit, and in Alaverdi the agricultural
products are mostly contaminated with lead, which is an element of the
first class of hazard. "One more example is the Ararat gold recovery
plant. The tailing dump is not in a good state, and arsenic leakage
has repeatedly registered there. The outskirts are also contaminated
with arsenic", the expert said.
As regards Yerevan, some part of the concentrates from Kajaran is
processed here, and, this results in pollution of the environment
with molybdenum and mercury. This does not concern only the air:
this year a hyperadmissible concentration has been revealed in the
mulberry that grows in the territory of the town. Moreover, the
samples have been taken in several parts of the town. Saghatelyan
stressed that the heavy metals are very dangerous: they accumulate in
the human organism and influence the heredity and reproduction. In
addition, people can eat food with big content of mercury or lead,
but the effect may be visible only in several years, in decades,
and even among the representatives of the next generations.
The metal pollution also affects the soil fertility. For instance, in
Kapan, where the soil of Syunik community is very much contaminated,
the farmers were complaining of the fact that the soil fertility
declined for several times. This is already a problem of food safety,
Saghatelyan said.
From: A. Papazian
arminfo
Wednesday, July 25, 21:33
Vegetables with arsenic and honey with mercury - these are the results
of development of ore mining industry in Armenia.
"Almost all the regions with ore mining industry have experienced
penetration of heavy metals into food chains. As a result, the local
population in many regions is almost deprived of the opportunity to eat
uncontaminated products", Armen Saghatelyan, Director of the Center for
Ecological-Noosphere Studies (CENS) of the National Academy of Sciences
of Armenia, told ArmInfo. He added that the thorough scientific surveys
have shown that the key risk factor is not the main ore elements but
the secondary elements, i.e. the admixtures, which are not taken into
account when preparing the feasibility studies of development of the
deposits. Saghatelyan brought the example of the mercury in Kajaran
deposit, which penetrated not only into the vegetables and fruits,
but also into the milk and honey.
Saghatelyan pointed out that very high cadmium contamination has
been revealed near Akhatala deposit, and in Alaverdi the agricultural
products are mostly contaminated with lead, which is an element of the
first class of hazard. "One more example is the Ararat gold recovery
plant. The tailing dump is not in a good state, and arsenic leakage
has repeatedly registered there. The outskirts are also contaminated
with arsenic", the expert said.
As regards Yerevan, some part of the concentrates from Kajaran is
processed here, and, this results in pollution of the environment
with molybdenum and mercury. This does not concern only the air:
this year a hyperadmissible concentration has been revealed in the
mulberry that grows in the territory of the town. Moreover, the
samples have been taken in several parts of the town. Saghatelyan
stressed that the heavy metals are very dangerous: they accumulate in
the human organism and influence the heredity and reproduction. In
addition, people can eat food with big content of mercury or lead,
but the effect may be visible only in several years, in decades,
and even among the representatives of the next generations.
The metal pollution also affects the soil fertility. For instance, in
Kapan, where the soil of Syunik community is very much contaminated,
the farmers were complaining of the fact that the soil fertility
declined for several times. This is already a problem of food safety,
Saghatelyan said.
From: A. Papazian