Radioactivity levels in some wild edible mushroom species in Turkey

Eleven different wild-growing edible mushroom species collected from various regions of Turkey were analysed for their content of Cs-137, K-40, Ra-226 and Th-232 using a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. Specific activities of 226Ra and 232Th were generally below detection limits. The specific activities of Cs-137 and K-40 ranged from 2.4 +/- 0.3 to 109.0 +/- 7.3Bq kg(-1) with a mean of 28.4 +/- 27.2 Bq kg(-1) (dry matter) and 715.5 +/- 50.1 to 1779.0 +/- 163.7Bq kg(-1) with a mean of 1150.8 +/- 315.2 Bq kg(-1) (dry matter), respectively. The mean annual effective dose of Cs-137 and K-40 through mushrooms were estimated to be (7.0 +/- 6.0) x 10(-3) mu Sv and 0.13 +/- 0.03 mu Sv, respectively. The overall intake of 137Cs is quite low and no significant contamination was found in collected mushroom species. The highest contents of 137Cs and 40K among the analysed mushrooms were in Morchella esculenta and Stropharia coronilla, respectively.