Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury contents of mushroom species in Korea and associated health risk

Abstract

Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury contents of Ganoderma lucidum, Phellinus linteus, Umbilicaria esculenta, Trametes versicolor, Agaricus blazei, Hericium erinaciium, Paecilomyces japonica, Fuscoporia obliqua, Sarcodon imbricatu and Hypsizygus marmoreus mushroom samples from the South Korean market were analyzed using validated methods. Method validation was performed, and the limits of detection and quantification were determined to be 0.38-0.66 and 1.21-2.09 μg/kg, respectively. The recoveries of the target metals ranged from 91.3% to 103.5%. The contents of As, Cd, Hg, and Pb were significantly different among the ten mushroom species, and the ranged from 0.006 to 3.9, 0.025 to 5.8, 0.01 to 0.21, and 0.004 to 12.3 mg/ kg dry weight, respectively. Additionally, the estimated daily exposures to these metals from consumption of mushroom used in this work were found to be safe in accordance with the provisional tolerable weekly intake. Considering the results in this study, it could be mentioned that the consumption of the ten mushrooms species from Korea presented no noticeable health risk to the general public.

Changes in Arsenic Speciation in Wild Edible Fungi after Different Cooking Processes and Gastrointestinal Digestion

“…Aside from their nutritional value, edible fungi tend to accumulate toxic chemical elements such as As, cadmium, mercury, and lead in soil and water [ 5 , 6 ]. Among these elements, As is more inclined to be enriched and accumulated via biotransformation.…”