Abstract
Mushroom cultivation has been increasing rapidly in Bangladesh. Arsenic (As) toxicity is widespread in the world and Bangladesh faces the greatest havoc due to this calamity. Rice is the staple food in Bangladesh and among all the crops grown, it is considered to be the main cause of As poisoning to its population after drinking water. Consequently, rice straw, an important growing medium of mushrooms in Bangladesh, is known to have high As content. The objective of this study was, therefore, to determine the concentrations of As in mushrooms cultivated in Bangladesh and to assess the health risk as well. It also considered other elements, including Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn, Hg, Ni, and Zn concentrations in mushrooms from Bangladesh. The mean concentrations (mg/kg) of As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn, Hg, Ni, and Zn in mushrooms were 0.51, 0.38, 0.28, 0.01, 13.7, 0.31, 11.7, 0.12, 0.28, and 53.5, respectively. Based on the dietary intake of mushrooms, the weekly intakes of As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn, Hg, Ni, and Zn from mushrooms for adults were 0.0042, 0.0030, 0.0024, 0.0001, 0.1125, 0.0019, 0.1116, 0.0011, 0.0023, and 0.4734 mg, respectively. Due to the low concentrations of As and other trace elements observed in mushrooms from Bangladesh, as well as relatively lower consumption of this food in people’s diet, it can be inferred that consumption of the species of mushrooms analysed will cause no toxicological risk.
Highlights
Geogenic arsenic (As) contamination in groundwater occurs in more than 107 countries worldwide [1]
This study reports concentrations of As and other elements in edible mushrooms available near Dhaka City, Bangladesh
High levels of Ni (31.5 mg/kg, dw) were reported in mushrooms in Turkey [41] whereas the same species, P. ostreatus, in this study demonstrated a maximum Ni concentration of 0.665 mg/kg
Summary
Geogenic arsenic (As) contamination in groundwater occurs in more than 107 countries worldwide [1]. About 100 million people of Bangladesh and the state West Bengal of India together [2], and more than 296 million of the global population in total [1], are at risk of As poisoning. Bangladesh is a densely-populated country and to cope with the demand of the burgeoning population, it has intensified rice production especially during the dry season, which provides higher a yield than rice varieties cultivated in the wet season. The dry season rice requires large amounts of irrigation water that reach as high as 11,500 m3 /ha [3], mostly extracted from groundwater through shallow tube-wells.
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