Comparison of the post-Chernobyl [sup 137]Cs contamination of mushrooms from eastern Europe, Sweden, and North America

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (United States)

OSTI ID:7062075

Smith, M L; Taylor, H W; Sharma, H D ^[1]

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1. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada)

A comparison was made of 134Cs and 137Cs contamination in fungi from eastern Europe and eastern North America. Mean activities of 25 Ukrainian, 6 Swedish, and 10 North American collections were 4,660, 9,750, and 205 Bq/kg (dry weight), respectively. Additional measurements were made on samples from the Moscow, southern Belarus, and Yugoslavia/Bulgaria regions. Activity values were found to vary by several orders of magnitude within all geographic areas, even for the same mushroom species. Significantly higher specific activities were observed in mycorrhizal species than in saprophytic and parasitic fungi. Unfortunately, many of the European mycorrhizal species considered as prized edibles contained unacceptably high levels of 137Cs (> 1,000 Bq/kg [dry weight]) and should be used sparingly as food. By contrast, no mushrooms collected in Ontario or northern Michigan exceeded 1,000 Bq of 137Cs per kg (dry weight). The excessive 137Cs contamination was evident in mushrooms from areas that had substantial fallout from the 1986 accident in reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. However, observations suggest that about 20% of the 137Cs in eastern Europe (Moscow area, Belarus, and Ukraine) is of non-Chernobyl origin.

• OSTI ID: 7062075
• Journal Information: Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (United States), Journal Name: Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (United States) Vol. 59:1; ISSN AEMIDF; ISSN 0099-2240
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560140* -- Radiation Effects on Plants
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& Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACCIDENTS
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CANADA
CESIUM 134
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
CHERNOBYLSK-4 REACTOR
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONTAMINATION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EASTERN EUROPE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
EUROPE
EVALUATION
FUNGI
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSI
ISOTOPES
LWGR TYPE REACTORS
MICHIGAN
MUSHROOMS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ONTARIO
PLANTS
POWER REACTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
SCANDINAVIA
SWEDEN
THERMAL REACTORS
UKRAINE
USA
WATER COOLED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES