137Cs activity concentration in mushrooms from the Bobrůvka river valley

Petr Dvořák,Katarí­Na Beňová,Jana Doležalová,Martin Tomko

doi:10.5219/1245

Abstract

In the 2017-2018 mushrooming seasons at the (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands near Dolní Rožínka) a total of 505 mushrooms belonging to 9 species were collected, and analyzed by gamma spectrometry for 137Cs activity. The maximum 137Cs activity of 575 Bq.kg-1 was detected in Boletus edulis species, what in native state, is just below the allowed limit. In contrast, in mushroom Imleria badia, which is reported to be associated with the highest cumulative capability from all fungi species, detected activity level was only 316 Bq. kg-1. However, differences in mean contamination values were not significant due to high variability. It was shown, that activity concentration is not dependent on the weight (size) of Imleria badia. Our results also confirmed generally well known lower 137Cs activity in the Russula species representatives belonging to the group of gills or lamella bearing mushrooms.

Highlights

The 137Cs isotope is one of more than 20 radioactive isotopes of caesium. 137Cs isotopes are formed at relatively high concentrations, reaching as much as 6.3 %, during the fission (nuclear chain) reaction in nuclear reactors (Söderlund et al, 2011).Its negative biological effect is due to the emission of beta particles with the subsequent conversion of 137Cs to metastable 137Ba, which emits gamma photons of an energy of 661.7 keV (Wasek et al, 2014).Despite the fact that more time than the physical half-life of 137Cs (30.17 years) has elapsed since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident (26 April 1986), there are still geographical areas with long-term persistent contamination (Smith and Beresford, 2005; Beňová et al, 2016).There are species of mushrooms in coniferous forests with a great ability to accumulate radiocaesium
The first mention of contamination of mushrooms with radiocaesium comes from the nineteen sixties
Mushroom samples collected in coniferous forests are characterised by a high content of radionuclides compared to mushroom samples collected in deciduous forests (Čipáková, 2004). 137Cs activity ranged between 273 and 1.165 Bq kg-1 in fresh mushrooms collected in the French Alps in 1999 – 2002 (Pourcelot et al, 2003)

Summary

Introduction

The 137Cs isotope is one of more than 20 radioactive isotopes of caesium. 137Cs isotopes are formed at relatively high concentrations, reaching as much as 6.3 %, during the fission (nuclear chain) reaction in nuclear reactors (Söderlund et al, 2011).Its negative biological effect is due to the emission of beta particles with the subsequent conversion of 137Cs to metastable 137Ba, which emits gamma photons of an energy of 661.7 keV (Wasek et al, 2014).Despite the fact that more time than the physical half-life of 137Cs (30.17 years) has elapsed since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident (26 April 1986), there are still geographical areas with long-term persistent contamination (Smith and Beresford, 2005; Beňová et al, 2016).There are species of mushrooms in coniferous forests with a great ability to accumulate radiocaesium. ABSTRACT A total of 505 mushrooms belonging to 9 species were collected in the 2017 and 2018 mushrooming seasons near Dolní Rožínka in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands and analysed by gamma spectrometry for 137Cs activity. The detected activity level was only 316 Bq kg-1 in the mushroom Imleria badia, which is reported to be associated with the highest cumulative capability of all fungi species. Differences in mean contamination values were not significant (p

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