article · Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A
An investigation of mercury concentrations in wild Yellow-cracking Boletes mushrooms and underlying soils across twelve locations in Poland demonstrates that the species absorbs and concentrates this toxic metal. Bioconcentration factors varied considerably between regions, reaching up to 17 in the caps and 7.9 in the stipes. These accumulation factors generally decreased as the baseline mercury content in the soil increased. Mushrooms gathered from a mineral-rich region, Złotoryja, showed the highest levels, recording average concentrations of 630 nanograms per gram of dry weight in caps and 420 nanograms per gram in stipes. In contrast, mushrooms from other sites exhibited much lower concentrations. Because the total amount of sequestered mercury depends heavily on the harvest location, consuming wild boletes from specific areas can pose a health risk to humans.
Wild mushrooms are frequently gathered for consumption, but some species absorb harmful heavy metals from the soil. Demonstrating that mercury accumulation changes significantly depending on local geography helps people understand the potential toxicity of foraged foods. This knowledge helps food safety and public health authorities assess dietary exposure risks and identify regions where wild foraging may be hazardous to human health.
The abstract does not indicate a direct commercial application pathway. The findings represent early-stage environmental monitoring research that could inform food safety authorities, environmental protection agencies, or commercial wild mushroom buyers assessing contaminant risks. Any practical implementation would involve integrating these contamination thresholds into wild food screening guidelines or environmental safety advisories.
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This study investigated the Hg concentrations in Yellow-cracking Boletes Xerocomus subtomentosus mushrooms and beneath soils collected from the wild at twelve sites across Poland. This mushroom species has some potential to bioconcentrate Hg in the fruiting bodies, and the amount of Hg sequestered, depending on geographical location, can pose health risk to consumers. The values of Hg bioconcentration factor (BCF) varied for the sites between 0.80 ± 0.20 and 17 ± 12 in caps and 0.50 ± 0.10 and 7.9 ± 6.6 in stipes of fruiting bodies but decreased as soil Hg content increased from 72 ± 32 to 570 ± 130 ng/g dry weight. The specimens collected from minerals rich area of Złotoryja contained the highest Hg concentration, which reached 630 ± 400 in caps and 420 ± 260 ng/g dw in stipes, while the lowest observed Hg concentrations at the other sites were 72 ± 32 and 57 ± 13 ng/g, for cap and stipes respectively. Available literature data on Hg in Yellow-cracking Boletes was also up-dated.
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DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2012.695990
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