Determination of radioactivity levels in different mushroom species from Turkey

Abstract

Radioactivity in the environment occurs due to natural, terrestrial, extra-terrestrial factors or caused by human activity. Foodstuffs such as plants and mushrooms that grown in the soil which containing radioactive elements can absorb radioactive elements from the soil. Wild mushrooms can accumulate many types of toxicological, nutritional, and radioactive elements. Knowing the levels of radioactivity in the foodstuffs is of great importance for the protection of human health. In this study, the activity concentrations of the naturally occurring 238U, 232Th, 40K nuclides and artificially occurring 137Cs nuclide were determined and annual effective doses and excess lifetime cancer risk values were calculated in mushrooms commonly consumed by the Turkish people. Fifteen types of mushroom samples were collected from different locations of Turkey. The results showed that the activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs varied from 9.2±1.6 to 75.4±8.8 Bq kg-1, 10.9±1.6 to 76.3±8.9 Bq kg-1, 925.9±29.0 to 3848.0±73.2 Bq kg-1 and 6.1±1.1 to 2824.8±79.8 Bq kg-1, respectively. The mean total annual effective dose was found to be 11.5 µSv y-1. 40K radionuclide was the highest contributor to the mean total annual effective dose as 5.35 µSv y-1. The mean excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) caused by consumption of mushrooms in the study was determined as 4.6 × 10-5.