Browsing by Author "Espejo, Winfred"

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    Environment and COVID-19: Pollutants, impacts, dissemination, management and recommendations for facing future epidemic threats
    (2020) Espejo, Winfred; Celis, Jose E.; Chiang, Gustavo; Bahamonde, Paulina
    Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. Its relationship with environmental factors is an issue that has attracted the attention of scientists and governments. This article aims to deal with a possible association between COVID-19 and environmental factors and provide some recommendations for adequately controlling future epidemic threats. Environmental management through ecosystem services has a relevant role in exposing and spreading infectious diseases, reduction of pollutants, and control of climatic factors. Pollutants and viruses (such as COVID-19) produce negative immunological responses and share similar mechanisms of action. Therefore, they can have an additive and enhancing role in viral diseases. Significant associations between air pollution and COVID-19 have been reported. Particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) can obstruct the airway, exacerbating cases of COVID-19. Some climatic factors have been shown to affect SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Yet, it is not well established if climatic factors might have a cause-effect relationship to the spreading of SARS-CoV-2. So far, positive as well as negative indirect environmental impacts have been reported, with negative impacts greater and more persistent. Too little is known about the current pandemic to evaluate whether there is an association between environment and positive COVID-19 cases. We recommend smart technology to collect data remotely, the implementation of "one health" approach between public health physicians and veterinarians, and the use of biodegradable medical supplies in future epidemic threats. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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    First Genetic Record of a Strap-Toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon layardii) Stranding in Chile
    (2020) Espanol-Jimenez, Sonia; Abaud, Constanza; Aceituno, Camila; Alvarado-Rybak, Mario; Borroni, Cintya; Chiang, Gustavo; Diaz, Javier; Espejo, Winfred; Luisa Estay, Maria; Garcia-Cegarra, Ana M.; Gonzalez, Carlos; Gutierrez, Belen; Gutierrez, Josefina; Henriquez, Daniel; Hirmas, Andrea; Mejias, Pamela; Merino, Constanza; Molina, Charity; Naretto, Camilo; Olivares, Florencia; Pereira, Patricia; Penaloza, Diego; Pincheira, Betsy; Pinto, Nicolas; Rojas, Omar; Sanchez, Carolina; Toro, Barbara; Toro, Frederick; Undurraga, Raimundo
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    Methylmercury biomagnification in coastal aquatic food webs from western Patagonia and western Antarctic Peninsula
    (2021) Chiang, Gustavo; Kidd, Karen A.; Diaz-Jaramillo, Mauricio; Espejo, Winfred; Bahamonde, Paulina; O'Driscoll, Nelson J.; Munkittrick, Kelly R.
    Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant of concern because its organic and more toxic form, methylHg (MeHg), bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through aquatic food webs to levels that affect the health of fish and fish consumers, including humans. Although much is known about trophic transfer of MeHg in aquatic food webs at temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere, it is unclear whether its fate is similar in biota from coastal zones of the southeastern Pacific. To assess this gap, MeHg, total Hg and food web structure (using delta C-13 and delta N-15) were measured in marine macroinvertebrates, fishes, birds, and mammals from Patagonian fjords and the Antarctic Peninsula. Trophic magnification slopes (TMS; log MeHg versus delta N-15) for coastal food webs of Patagonia were high when compared with studies in the northern hemisphere, and significantly higher near freshwater inputs as compared to offshore sites (0.244 vs 0.192). Similarly, in Antarctica, the site closer to glacial inputs had a significantly higher TMS than the one in the Southern Shetland Islands (0.132 vs 0.073). Composition of the food web also had an influence, as the TMS increased when mammals and seabirds were excluded (0.132-0.221) at a coastal site. This study found that both the composition of the food web and the proximity to freshwater outflows are key factors influencing the TMS for MeHg in Patagonian and Antarctic food webs. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.