PARENT SESSION
80 - Biomonitoring and Assessment
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM, Wednesday, 15 May 2002
Exhibition Area

(80-30) Mercury content of wild mushrooms and underlying substrate collected near the city of Koszalin, northern Poland.

Falandysz, Jerzy¹, Brzostowski, Andrzej^*,1, Gucia, Magdalena¹, Wieliczko, Malgorzata¹, Kannan, Kurunthachalam², Kawano, Masahide³, ¹ Department of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology,University of Gdansk, 18 Sobieskiego St., Gdansk, Poland² National Food safety and Toxicology Centre, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA³ Department of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, Ehime University, 3-5-7 Tarumi, Matsuyama, Japan

ABSTRACT- Total mercury concentrations were determined by the cold-vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy (CV-AAS) separately in 221 caps and 221 stalks of 15 species of wild growing higher fungi and in 221 samples of underlying soil substrate collected from the country side outskirts of the city of Koszalin in northern part of Poland. The mean mercury concentrations of the caps, stalks and soil varied, respectively, between 30±31 and 920±280, 17±11 and 560±220, and 10±9 and 170±110 ng/g dry matter. The caps to stalk mercury concentration quotients were from 1.0±0.4 to Poison Pax (Paxilus involutus) to 2.8±0.7 for Slippery Jack (Suillus luteus). Cortinarius malicorius, Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria), Orange-brown Ringless Amanita (Amanita fulva), Common Scaber Stalk (Leccinum scabrum) and Mutagen milk cap (Lactariusmecators) showed greatest mercury concentrations both in the caps and stalks with mean values between 600±750 and 920±280 ng/g dry matter (total range 63-2600 ng/g), and 370±470 and 560±220 ng/g (total range 48-1600 ng/g), respectively. The Sickener (Russula emetica), Geranium-scented Russula (R. fellea) and Poison Pax (P. involutus) apparently excluded mercury with bioconcentration factors of this element below 1, while Red-hot Milk Cap (Lactarius rufus), Rickstone Funnel Cap (Clitocybe geotropa) and Shallow-pored Bolete (Suillus bovines) were weak accumulators. Fly Agaric (A. muscaria) showed highest potential to accumulate mercury with the caps and stalks BCFs reaching 73±42 and 38±22, respectively, while between 4.0±2.3 and 23±25 for the caps, and 2.6±1.9 and 14±12 for the caps were noted for some other species in this study. A relatively great concentrations of mercury reported to Fly Agaric (A. muscaria) are related to species-specific preferential up-take of this element but not to soil mercury content.

Key words: mercury, mushrooms , accumulation, pollution