Lichens, air pollution and lung cancer

Biomonitoring programs enable researchers to evaluate the impacts of pollution over widely distributed geographic areas. Results are presented from a project conducted to compare the biodiversity distributions of pollution-sensitive lichens with lung-cancer mortality patterns in the Veneto region, located in norhtern Italy. Results from this comparison suggest strong links between air pollution and lung cancer. The study of lichen biodiversity included 2425 measurements of epiphytic lichen biodiversity at 662 sites scattered throughout the region of interest. Mortality data at the municipal level were obtained from studies conducted by the Italian National Institute of Statistics. The highest correlation was observed between lichen biodiversity and cancer in young native male residents of the region.