CAT WISE:

Jovan's team took samples from 346 sites around Portland. They even climbed some trees. The samples were brought back to a Portland State University lab, where they were processed and cleaned of debris, and then they were sent off for a detailed chemical analysis.

The results that came back were startling. Moss from two neighborhoods contained high levels of cadmium, a metal which can cause a host of health problems, including kidney damage and lung cancer, if inhaled over a long time.

The cadmium hot spots, seen in dark orange on this Forest Service map, were right around two artisan glass manufacturing companies. And one location also had very high levels of arsenic. Cadmium, arsenic, and other metals are commonly used in glassmaking.

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