title: 137Caesium in samples of wild-grown Boletus edulis Bull. from Lucca province (Tuscany, Italy) and other Italian and European geographical areas.
abstract: Samples of the edible mushroom Boletus edulis Bull. were studied to assess the risk for human health related to their content of the artificial radionuclide137Cs. Fresh B. edulis carpophores were collected in four undeveloped microhabitats of Lucca province (Tuscany, North-Central Italy). Dried non-cultivated samples coming from this same district and 11 other Italian provinces or European countries were instead purchased fromcommercial sources. Contents of137Cs, reported as Bq kg‒1dry weight (dw), were measured by γ-spectrometry. The radionuclide concentration varied depending on the gathering site in fresh samples, with 41.8 ± 5.2 Bq kg‒1dw at site 1 (Tosco-Emiliani Apennine) and four-fold less, 12.8 ± 1.3 Bq kg‒1dw, at site 2 (Apuan Alps). Moreover, fresh or dried carpophores from Lucca province displayed among the lowest137Cs contents in Europe. Average137Cs levels in all analysed samples were substantially below the legal threshold for edible mushrooms, 600 Bq kg‒1dw. Conclusively, we report that137Cs amounts in B. edulis depend on both the distance from the Chernobyl accident and multifactorial features of collection sites. We also show that the consumption of European B. edulis does not represent a major health risk with respect to137Cs radio contamination.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.|b Interdepartmental Center of 'Nutraceutical Research and Food for Health' , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Betti
authors.affiliation: c Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Lionella
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Palego
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.|b Interdepartmental Center of 'Nutraceutical Research and Food for Health' , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lucacchini
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.|b Interdepartmental Center of 'Nutraceutical Research and Food for Health' , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Gino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giannaccini
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000378:metabolism*; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000378:metabolism*; D007558:Italy
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes
keywords: Boletus edulis; Cs; consumers; health risk; source