ArticleArchives of environmental contamination and toxicology2025
Reconstructing Air Pollution Trends in Remote Forests of Central Europe Using Lichen Herbarium Specimens.
Article in Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Are Seasonal Acclimation and Genetic Variability ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Lichen collections may contribute to a better understanding of past environmental conditions. By analysing herbarium specimens and recently collected material of the lichen Lobaria pulmonaria, this study reconstructs six decades (1960-2022) of air quality changes in remote forests of Central Europe (the Western Carpathians). Twenty specimens were selected for retrospective analysis of major and trace elements (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, and Zn), focusing on both historical and current background concentrations. The results revealed peaks of potentially toxic elements (As, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, S, and Sb) up to 1989, with a progressive decline observed thereafter, particularly for Pb following the introduction of unleaded gasoline. Background element concentrations from 1960 to 1989 were at least four times higher than actual levels. The study highlights the value of herbarium collections for reconstructing air pollution history and tracking changes in background element concentrations in remote areas, particularly when alternative data sources are unavailable. It also addresses both the opportunities and limitations of this approach.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.