An MIPT-based team of researchers has proposed analyzing lichen composition to assess atmospheric air quality when conventional monitoring stations are unavailable. They produced a case study of the Xanthoria parietina lichen, whose samples were collected in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and two towns outside Moscow—Dolgoprudny and Dubna. Sample analysis revealed their iron, copper, and manganese content, along with free radical concentrations of phenol and polyphenol—two types of compounds occurring naturally in lichens. The research findings were published in the Journal of Applied Spectroscopy.