LUCKNOW, March 27 -- The air inhaled by 2.6 million city residents is making them vulnerable to several diseases, including cancer. Traces of heavy metals like Aluminium, Iron, Cadmium, Chromium, Cobalt, Nickel and Zinc were found in the atmosphere as part of a recent study conducted at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI). They used lichens - an organism consisting of fungus and algae that shows a symbiotic relationship while also acting as a single organism. "While there are hundreds of lichen varieties generally found on tree barks, rocks, soils and stable materials - some of these varieties are sensitive to air pollution and climate change making them useful for monitoring both. They do not possess any root system, requiring them to absorb nutrients from the atmosphere, and these are perineal in nature," said NBRI scientist Sanjeeva Nayaka. He said that due to the city's harsh climatic conditions, lichen diversity is not evident, but some pollution-sensitive lichens are found in the Malihabad area. "Along with Malihabad the scientists selected 10 areas in the city - Hazratganj, Polytechnic crossing, IT crossing, Nirala Nagar, Sikandarbagh crossing, Alambagh crossing, Shiv Temple in Para, Somnath Dwar, Arjunganj and Janeshwar Mishra Park. We got lichen samples along with tree barks from Malihabad and placed them at the locations for exposure to air pollution in the respective areas," said Nayaka. The samples found that pollution, including various heavy metals, accumulated in the lichens due to vehicular pollution and anthropogenic activities. "This was a bio-monitoring or bio-proxy study that can supplement studies conducted by the Pollution Control Board which focus only on gaseous pollutants. The study found carcinogenic substances in high quantities around the busy crossings like Polytechnic and Hazratganj," Nayaka added. The highest accumulation of these was found in the lichen sample at Polytechnic crossing at 24.94 micrograms per gram followed by Hazratganj at 22.75 micrograms per gram, Alambagh crossing at 7.60 micrograms per gram and IT crossing 7.56 micrograms per gram while the minimum accumulation was found in Malihabad with trace amounts, Janeshwar Mishra Park with 0.24 micrograms and Somnath Dwar with 0.30 micrograms. "The concentration of Iron was found to be higher in all samples while Aluminum was the second most abundant metal. Its role in causing neurotoxic diseases such as Alzheimer's and asthma is well-documented. Similarly, Manganese can cause neurotoxic disorders like Parkinson's disease," said Nayaka. Ajit Shasnay, director, NBRI, said that the study highlights the importance of integrating biomonitoring approaches into urban environmental management. "The study suggests the need to reduce traffic congestion, switch off ignition at traffic signals to reduce incomplete combustion or switch to electric vehicles. At the same time, there is a need to increase pollution sinks within the city which can help absorb carbon," Shashnay said....