Bioconcentration potential of 210Po and 210Pb in the gypsy mushroom (Cortinarius caperatus): Dietary intake and health risk assessment.

The Gypsy mushroom (Cortinarius caperatus) is prized as an edible fungus in northern climates. This species has a strong predilection for accumulating radiocaesium (134/137Cs), but the potential to accumulate other toxic nuclides is unknown. 210Po and 210Pb activity concentrations were determined in the fruiting bodies of this species and the associated forest soil (0-10 cm layer) collected at 20 sites across Northern Poland. Concentrations of 210Po and 210Pb in mushrooms ranged from 0.92 to 10.0 and 0.36 to 13.1 Bq∙kg-1 db and from 10.5 to 46.6 and 11.0 to 46.2 Bq∙kg-1 db in soils, respectively. Estimated bioconcentration factors indicated that the species exhibited bioexclusion of both 210Po and 210Pb. The effective dose from a meal containing 100 g of fresh gypsy mushroom would result in 22.0-64.4 nSv from 210Po + 210Pb decay. The highest assessed risk of cancer for adult consumers only due to 210Po and 210Pb exposure from 5 kg of fresh specimens consumed annually over 50 years was 10-6, indicating that one in a million consumers of these mushrooms might develop cancer.