By William J. Schull (auth.), William J. Schull, Francisco Rothhammer (eds.)
South America's Andean highlands have noticeable the increase and decline of numerous awesome, indigenous civilizations. Separated a little in time and position, every one built its unique socio-cultural accouterments yet all shared a necessity to regulate to the person, societal and environmental obstacles imposed via existence at excessive altitude. Partial oxygen strain, temperature and humidity fall systematically as altitude rises, yet there are different adjustments to boot. Darwin, Forbes, von Humboldt, von Tschudi and different naturalists of the eighteenth and 19th centuries who weaved their approach via South the USA commented many times at the tolerance or obvious indifference of the indigenes to the trials of existence at altitudes above 3000 meters yet its effect upon lowlanders. Von Tschudi (1847), for instance, saw 'in the cordillera the influence of the lowered atmospheric strain at the human body exhibits itself in insupportable indicators of weariness and an severe hassle of respiring . . . . the 1st indicators are typically felt on the elevation of 12,600 toes (3800 m) above the ocean. those indicators are vertigo, dimness of sight and listening to, pains within the head and nausea . . . . population of the coast and Europeans, who for the 1st time stopover at the lofty areas of the cordillera, are typically attacked with this ailment. ' yet von Tschudi's description of acute mountain affliction was once infrequently the 1st; his Spanish predecessors had identified and commented upon it too.
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8ufo ... Ipinoiolul .... /~. • ',:'; ...... >: . : ',: \ oC( a: . :: ........ llol •• mue · . '::", ... :.. J N .. ~.... ~... ' ..... Rh •• .... ;--'" ;" ..... \\', 7. 1 .. :: I .. J II o a b ' ........ 8 .............. : .... ;• 1 . '::/.. ". & ...... ::.. I , - 7 ... :--=---::---·· "', .. ,;·,· .. ·.. , .. ". - Akodo;;'" 8 Ctenomy. : 10 , 12'' ' :"Y"" c 8 .... :,....... ~ d .. ( , g FIGURE 4. Number of species found at different sites or regions in the Central Andes. a) Birds (data from Vuilleumier and Simberloff, 1980).
The pathways of ingestion of noxious or potentially noxious constituents of these waters are numerous, for they not only support the people, but the crops they cultivate and the animals they husband. Little is known about the concentrations of most metals in these components of the local food chains, but we can surmise that they too must be high. Even less is known about the effects TRACE METALS 35 of these metals, at these concentrations on human growth and development, and health. Some are known to be prejudicial, indeed toxic at still higher concentrations, but others may actually be beneficial, for example, selenium.
They further suggest that boron may also play an essential role in human physiology (Clarke, Webber, Koekebakker and Barr, 1987). This is of particular interest insofar as the Lluta Valley is concerned, for the waters of the Rio Lluta carry especially high concentrations of the salts of boron. Although elemental boron is thought not to be toxic, accumulation of its salts is. Boracic acid occurs in nature as the mineral sassolite; it is soluble in water, and protracted exposure can presumably produce borism with its dry skin, eruptions and gastric disturbances (Merck Index, 1976).