On June 7, within the framework of “Environmental Protection of Lake Sevan” (EU4Sevan) project, a workshop was held in Yerevan on "Assessing Needs for Regular Monitoring of Priority Materials and Some Other Pollutants in Lake Sevan Basin".
Seyran Minasyan, Director of Institute of Chemical Physics after Nalbandyan of NAS RA, and Gayane Shahnazaryan, Deputy Director of Hydro-meteorological Monitoring Center, presented the issues necessary for the preservation of the Lake Sevan ecosystem and the findings of the studies of pesticides and other hazardous substances carried out by Institute of Chemical Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia after Nalbandyan in 2016-2018.
Seyran Minasyan, Director of Nalbandyan Institute of Chemical Physics of NAS RA, presenting the necessary measures for the preservation of Lake Sevan ecosystem, said that the lake level should be raised to 1909 m to stabilize the lake ecosystem. Referring to the things to be done, he noted that the process of monitoring and evaluation of the lake should be modernized. Hydro-meteorological Monitoring Center should be equipped with new equipment.
Gayane Shahnazaryan, Deputy Director of Hydro-meteorological Monitoring Center, noted that as a result of studies conducted by Institute of Chemical Physics of NAS RA in Lake Sevan basin after 2016-2018, pesticides or their residues banned for use in Armenia were found both in the lake and in river sediments.
"Most of the pesticides were found in the southern part of Great Sevan, in rivers, estuaries, mainly in sediments. This is a consequence not only of the pesticides used in the past, but also of the pesticides currently used unofficially," Gayane Shahnazaryan said.
He noted that the source of pesticides could be the former pesticide depots Vardenik village, Vardenis town and Lichq village.
"None of the pesticides revealed by the results of the research has exceeded the value of the permissible concentration," Gayane Shahnazaryan said. Seyran Minasyan, Director of Institute of Chemical Physics after Nalbandyan of NAS RA, said that their research did not find pesticides in fish organisms.
June 10, 2022 at 13:13