The propagation of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has been alarming in the last months. According to recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the use of face masks is essential for slowing down the transmission rate of COVID-19 in human beings. This pandemic has generated a substantial increase in the use, as well as in the production, of face masks and other elements (gloves, face protectors, protective suits, safety shoes) manufactured with polymeric materials, including antiviral textiles most of which will end as microplastic pools. Focusing on South America, the use and mismanagement of this type of personal protective equipment (PPE) represents an environmental problem. Added to this issue are the increase in the use of single-use plastic, and the reduction of plastic recycling due to the curfew generated by the pandemic, further aggravating plastic pollution on coasts and beaches. Recently, researchers have developed antiviral polymeric textile technology composed of Ag and Cu nanoparticles for PPE to reduce the contagion and spread of COVID-19. Antiviral polymeric textile wastes could also have long-term negative repercussions on aquatic environments, as they are an important emerging class of contaminants. For this reason, this work provides reflections and perspectives on how the COVID-19 pandemic can aggravate plastic pollution on beaches and coastal environments, consequently increasing the damage to marine species in the coming years. In addition, the potential impact of the pandemic on waste management systems is discussed here, as well as future research directions to improve integrated coastal management strategies.

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The Bahía Blanca Estuary is considered highly eutrophic. Long-term studies have shown that the winter-early spring bloom can be considered the development of a diatom assemblage with Thalassiosira curviseriata as the dominant species. Since 2003, several changes have been observed in the annual pattern of nutrients and phytoplankton. To assess the availability of nutrients and their relationship with phytoplankton development, nutrient variability was studied during a winter bloom in 2003 (April 22-September 4). Nitrite, nitrate, ammonium, phosphate, silicates, chlorophyll-a, phytoplankton abundance, particulate organic matter, and physicochemical parameters were measured in surface water at Cuatreros Port. In the Sauce Chico River mouth, we determined the concentration of nutrients to estimate the input of this river. The results of this study were compared with those of a previous usual diatom bloom from 2002. In 2003, the bloom was dominated by the Cyclotella sp. with high chlorophyll-a concentrations (26.5-40.4 lg L À1 ). Thalassiosira curviseriata was present only at three sampling dates, reaching up to 19% of the total abundance. Mean values of dissolved oxygen, nitrate, oxygen saturation percentage, and salinity were significantly higher in 2003 than in 2002, while N:P ratios were significantly lower. Si was never limiting. A shift in the limiting nutrient between the years (N in 2003 and P in 2002) could have lead to a change in species dominance during the blooms. Results suggest that the nutrients levels in the coastal ecosystems at Cuatreros Port play an important role in the control of phytoplankton dynamics during the productive period and partially explain its interannual variability.

The study deals with the determination of physico-chemical parameters, inorganic nutrients, particulate organic matter, and photosynthetic pigments on a monthly basis during an annual cycle from nine sampling sites of the coastal zone of a high-latitude ecosystem (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). Nitrites and phosphates concentrations were similar to other systems of the south Atlantic coast (median, 0.30 and 1.02 μM, respectively), while nitrates were higher in all sampling periods (median, 45.37 μM), and silicates were significantly smaller (median, 7.76 μM). Chlorophyll a and phaeopigments have shown median values of 0.38 and 0.85 mg m(-3), respectively, while saturated values of dissolved oxygen were recorded throughout the study. The analysis reflected that nutrient enrichment seems to be linked to an anthropogenic source, the presence of peatlands areas, and a sink of Nothofagus pumilio woods. The area could be characterized in three zones related to (1) high urban influence, (2) natural inputs of freshwater, and (3) mixed inputs coming from moderate urban impacts.

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