Browsing by Author "Muñoz, Luis"

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    A Positive Relationship between Exposure to Heavy Metals and Development of Chronic Diseases: A Case Study from Chile
    (2021) Cortés Arancibia, Sandra; Zúñiga-Venegas, Liliana; Pancetti, Floria; Covarrubias, Alejandra; Ramírez-Santana, Muriel; Adaros, Héctor; Muñoz, Luis
    Chile is a mining country, where waste mining is frequently found in the vicinity of inhabited areas. To explore the association between metal exposure and alterations in glucose metabolism, inflammatory status, and oxidative stress in individuals with chronic exposure to metals, a cross-sectional study was performed with 25 volunteers, between 45–65 years old. Inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to measure urinary levels of total arsenic (As) and its metabolites, cooper, nickel, chromium, and lead. Lipid profile, glucose, and insulin were measured in blood, as well as inflammation (interleukin-6, IL-6) and oxidative stress (8-hydroxy-2′deoxyguanosine, 8-OHdG) markers. Increased levels of Low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoproteins, cholesterol and 8-OHdG, and the index for homeostasis model assessment—insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were observed in 72%, 60%, and 56% of the volunteers, respectively. Blood-glucose levels were correlated with dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) (R2 = 0.47, p = 0.019), inorganic As (Asi) (R2 = 0.40, p = 0.012), and Ni (R2 = 0.56; p = 0.044). The models with these compounds explained 72% of the glycemia variability (βDMA = −6.47; βAsi = 6.68; βNi = 6.87). Ni showed a significantly influence on IL-6 variability (β = 0.85: R2 = 0.36). Changes in glycemia could be related to exposure to low levels of Asi and Ni, representing risk factors for metabolic diseases. Body mass index would confuse the relation between IL-6 and Ni levels, probably due to known chronic inflammation present in obese people.
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    An integrated study of health, environmental and socioeconomic indicators in a mining-impacted community exposed to metal enrichment
    (2019) Moya, Pablo M.; Arce, Guillermo J.; Leiva Cisternas, Cinthya Aracely; Vega, Alejandro S.; Gutierrez Muñoz, Santiago Yvan; Adaros, Héctor; Muñoz, Luis; Pastén González, Pablo Arturo; Cortés Arancibia, Sandra; CEDEUS (Chile)
    The occurrence of toxic metals and metalloids associated with mine tailings is a serious public health concern for communities living in mining areas. This work explores the relationship between metal occurrence (e.g., spatial distribution in street dusts), human health indicators (e.g., metals in urine samples, lifestyle and self-reported diseases) and socioeconomic status (SES) using Chanaral city (in northern Chile) as study site, where a copper mine tailing was disposed in the periurban area. This study model may shed light on the development of environmental and health surveillance plans on arid cities where legacy mining is a sustainability challenge. High concentrations of metals were found in street dust, with arsenic and copper concentrations of 24 +/- 13 and 607 +/- 911 mg/kg, respectively. The arsenic concentration in street dust correlated with distance to the mine tailing (r = - 0.32, p-value = 0.009), suggesting that arsenic is dispersed from this source toward the city. Despite these high environmental concentrations, urinary levels of metals were low, while 90% of the population had concentrations of inorganic arsenic and its metabolites in urine below 33.2 mu g/L, copper was detected in few urine samples (< 6%). Our results detected statistically significant differences in environmental exposures across SES, but, surprisingly, there was no significant correlation between urinary levels of metals and SES. Despite this, future assessment and control strategies in follow-up research or surveillance programs should consider environmental and urinary concentrations and SES as indicators of environmental exposure to metals in mining communities.
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    Phloematic mobility of 10 Boron in kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) mixedshoots
    (2012) Sotomayor Sercka, Carlos; Ruiz Schneider, Rafael; Muñoz, Luis
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    Study of inhaler technique in asthma patients : differences between pediatric and adult patients
    (2015) Manriquez, Pablo; Acuña, Ana María; Muñoz, Luis; Reyes Ponce, Alvaro