An Argentine bicyclist downwind from Chile's erupting Chaitén volcano wears a face mask to protect himself from breathing in falling ash.
Environmental scientists in Chile and Argentina are becoming concerned over the long-term damage to the health of people and animals in ash-blanketed parts of picturesque Patagonia.
A broad swath of those two countries has been in the direct path of ash that spewed from Chile’s Chaitén volcano for much of May.
The ash has polluted lakes, rivers and lagoons, as well as coating plants and pastures in a dense gray layer.
Biologists say that it is too early to determine what the long-term effects such a vast blanket of ash will bring. But they say it is apparent that life has permanently changed in the region's pine and cypress forests, inhabited by pumas and huemules, a rare species of deer.
Government officials insist the ash is not toxic, but many residents in its path have complained of burning eyes, breathing trouble and tainted water.
Photo: El Mercurio
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