Artificial 137Cs and natural 40K in mushrooms from the subalpine region of the Minya Konka summit and Yunnan Province in China

Abstract

A study on 137Cs pollution and activity concentrations of 40K in mushrooms of the genera Cortinarius, Leccinum, Russula, Tricholoma, Tylopilus, and Xerocomus from two neighboring regions in southwest China in 2010–2013 revealed different patterns of pollution with 137Cs, which seemed to be highly dependent on climate conditions. Tricholoma matsutake was collected in Yunnan before and after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident and showed similar contamination with 137Cs. Mushrooms from the elevation of 2800–3480 m above sea level on the east slope of Minya Konka and forest topsoil showed higher contamination with 137Cs than mushrooms from the highlands of Yunnan. In detail, the activity concentration of 137Cs in caps of mushrooms from Minya Konka were in the range 62 ± 6–280 ± 150 Bq kg−1 dry biomass and from Yunnan at < 4.4–83 ± 3 Bq kg−1 dry biomass. The climate in the region of the Minya Konka is much colder than in Yunnan, which seems to favor deposition of 137Cs at higher altitudes from global atmospheric circulation. The activity concentration of 40K in mushrooms and soils highly exceeded that of 137Cs. The assessed annual effective doses for 137Cs in 1 kg of consumed mushrooms of the genera Leccinum and Xerocomus in Yunnan were low, i.e., in the range < 0.0043–0.049 ± 0.004 μSv, while those for 40K were 0.26 ± 0.02–0.81 ± 0.09 μSv.

137Cs, 40K, and K in raw and stir-fried mushrooms from the Boletaceae family from the Midu region in Yunnan, Southwest China

“…The data obtained for 137 Cs confirm that wild mushrooms foraged from the Yunnan province in China show low contamination levels, and the activity concentrations were within the range of values reported so far both in wild and cultivated mushrooms from southwestern Asia (Falandysz et al 2015(Falandysz et al , 2017(Falandysz et al . 2018Tuo et al 2014;Wang et al 2015).…”

“…Earle ex Giachini and Castellano (Index Fungorum 2020). Also, mushrooms from the subalpine region of the Minya Konka (Mount Gongga or Gongga Shan) in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, showed, on average, higher levels of 137 Cs than the present study, i.e., in the range 62 ± 6 to 280 ± 150 Bq kg −1 db in caps and 62 ± 6 to 400 ± 72 Bq kg −1 db in stems (Falandysz et al 2018).…”

“…The data obtained for 137 Cs confirm that wild mushrooms foraged from the Yunnan province in China show low contamination levels, and the activity concentrations were within the range of values reported so far both in wild and cultivated mushrooms from southwestern Asia (Falandysz et al 2015 , 2016 , 2017 . 2018 ; Tuo et al 2014 ; Wang et al 2015 ). However, 137 Cs at a somewhat greater activity concentration, i.e., 210 Bq kg −1 db (range 150 ± 9 to 340 ± 22 Bq kg −1 db) has been found in the shaggy (scaly or woolly) chanterelle Gomphus floccosus (Schv.)…”

“…More recently, a failure of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in also caused pollution with 137 Cs of mushrooms in a region of Japan (Prand-Stritzko and Steinhauser 2018 ; Steinhauser et al 2014 ). There was negligible impact of this incident on continental Asia, e.g., in the region of southwestern China (Falandysz et al 2016 , 2017 , 2018 ). Soil in Yunnan is considered little polluted with 137 Cs, and forest topsoil (0–5 cm layer) sampled from the Changning localization (ca.…”

“…Soil in Yunnan is considered little polluted with 137 Cs, and forest topsoil (0–5 cm layer) sampled from the Changning localization (ca. 200 km west of Midu County) in Yunnan in 2016 showed the 137 Cs activity concentration at level 4.9 ± 0.6 Bq kg −1 dry weight (Falandysz et al 2018 ).…”