Within the scope of its Independent Environmental Monitoring of Mining Communities project, the AUA Center for Responsible Mining has tested soil and drinking water samples from 27 schools and 25 kindergartens of 10 mining or mineral processing communities throughout Armenia.
The studies, conducted as deliverables for ONEArmenia’s “Let’s Protect Armenia from Toxic Pollution” crowd-funding campaign, have revealed the level of heavy-metal pollution in soil samples collected.
The research that reports on the presence of arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and copper in the samples started in 2015 when the Organization and Security Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE’s) Yerevan office delivered the environmental testing equipment it had pledged during ONEArmenia’s campaign. Equipment donations and financial support were also extended by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the British Embassy and several private donors. The US Embassy also played a crucial role in launching the crowdfunding campaign and mobilizing donors.