Arsenic, cadmium and lead in sclerotia of Wolfiporia extensa of Yunnan, China

Considering the environmental pollution, edible mushroom safety is of great concern to consumers. This study aimed at providing and evaluating data on As, Cd and Pb content of sclerotia of Wolfiporia extensa collected across Yunnan in China. For the presented survey As, Cd, and Pb concentration in sclerotia of wild and cultivated W. extensa was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The results showed that As, Cd, and Pb content were below the limit promulgated by WHO, with the ranges 5.27-161, 1.51-42.1 and <1-634 ng g(-1) dry matter. Calculated hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) were used to evaluate the non-carcinogenic health risk from individual and combined metals via daily consumption of 50g sclerotia. Both HQ and HI through consumption of sclerotia were below 1, indicating that weekly consumption of sclerotia at the indicated doses poses no significant health risk to an adult consumer.