Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32760420›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in plant science2020

Biomonitoring of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Deposition in Greenland Using Historical Moss Herbarium Specimens Shows a Decrease in Pollution During the 20

Karen Martinez-Swatson, Eszter Mihály, Christian Lange, Madeleine Ernst, Majbrit Dela Cruz, Michelle J Price, Teis Nørgaard Mikkelsen, Jan H Christensen, Nina Lundholm, Nina Rønsted

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in plant science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Karen Martinez-SwatsonNatural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Eszter MihályNatural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Christian LangeNatural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Madeleine ErnstNatural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Majbrit Dela CruzDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Michelle J PriceConservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.
Teis Nørgaard MikkelsenDepartment of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
Jan H ChristensenDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Nina LundholmNatural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Nina RønstedNatural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although most point sources of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are at lower latitudes, the Arctic region is contaminated. In particular, PAHs now dominate the POP body burden of the region's marine biota at the lower trophic levels. Greenlandic Inuits have the most elevated levels of POPs in their blood compared to any other population, due to their consumption of seal meat and other marine mammals. PAHs, the by-products of the incomplete combustion of petroleum products, are known carcinogens and have been shown to affect the immune system, reproduction, endocrine functions, and the nervous system. With industrial activities and climate change set to increase local PAH emissions, it is paramount to document changes in atmospheric PAH deposition to further investigate PAH exposure in the region and attribute contaminations to their sources. As a measure of atmospheric pollution, we sampled bryophyte herbarium specimens of three common and widespread species collected in Greenland between the 1920s and 1970s after which time new collections were not available. They were analyzed for 19 PAHs using GC-MS (gas chromatography mass spectrometry). The presence of more low-molecular-weight PAHs than high-molecular-weight PAHs is evidence that the PAH contamination in Greenland is due to long-range transport rather than originating from local sources. The results show peaks in PAH atmospheric deposition in the first part of the 19th century followed by a trend of decrease, which mirror global trends in atmospheric pollution known from those periods. PAHs associated with wood and fossil-fuel combustion decrease in the 1970s coinciding with the disappearance of charcoal pits and foundries in Europe and North America, and a shift away from domestic heating with wood during the 19

Indexed as

atmospheric pollutionbioindicatorsbryophytesGas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)herbariahistorical trendsPersistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Identifiers

PMID32760420
PMCPMC7373755

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