  The Dirac equation in Riemann-Cartan spacetimes with torsion is reconsidered.
As is well-known, only the axial covector torsion $A$, a one-form, couples to
massive Dirac fields. Using diagrammatic techniques, we show that besides the
familiar Riemannian term only the Pontrjagin type four-form $dA\wedge dA$ does
arise additionally in the chiral anomaly, but not the Nieh-Yan term $d ^* A$,
as has been claimed recently. Implications for cosmic strings in
Einstein-Cartan theory as well as for Ashtekar's canonical approach to quantum
gravity are discussed.
