Mercury assessment in invasive Lionfish Pterois (Oken, 1817) from marine protected areas in the Colombian Caribbean.

Lionfish (Pterois spp.) are invasive species reported since 2009 in the Corales del Rosario y San Bernardo National Natural Park in the Caribbean. Their capture and consumption are strategies to control their dispersion and limit ecological damage.

Vaccines platforms and COVID-19: what you need to know.

Background: The novel SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is the third zoonotic coronavirus since the beginning of the 21 first century, and it has taken more than 6 million human lives because of the lack of immunity causing global economic losses. Consequently, developing a vaccine against the virus represents the fastest way to finish the threat and regain some "normality."

Objective: Here, we provide information about the main features of the most important vaccine platforms, some of them already approved, to clear common doubts fostered by widespread misinformation and to reassure the public of the safety of the vaccination process and the different alternatives presented.

Quantification of microplastics along the Caribbean Coastline of Colombia: Pollution profile and biological effects on Caenorhabditis elegans.

The Caribbean Coast of Colombia has a flourishing plastic industry with weak and insufficient waste management policies and practices, leading to plastic pollution along its touristic beaches. In this work, primary and secondary microplastics (MPs) were surveyed at four different locations along the Colombian Caribbean Coast. Primary microplastics, specifically white new plastic pellets, represented the largest amount of MPs found, with densities decreasing in the order Cartagena > Coveñas > Puerto Colombia > Riohacha.

Trace elements in microplastics in Cartagena: A hotspot for plastic pollution at the Caribbean.

Microplastics are new pollutants considered a source of concern for the oceans worldwide. This research reports the concentrations of trace metals on microplastics collected on beaches from Cartagena, an industrialized city in the Caribbean. Mercury (Hg) was quantified using a Hg analyzer and forty-seven trace elements were assessed by ICP/MS.

Microplastic resin pellets on an urban tropical beach in Colombia.

Microplastics are a problem in oceans worldwide. The current situation in Latin America is not well known. This paper reports, for the first time, the presence of microplastics on an urban Caribbean beach in Cartagena, Colombia.