DETERMINATION OF ELEMENTS IN WILD EDIBLE MUSHROOMS: LEVELS AND RISK ASSESSMENT

Abstract

The paper is focused on monitoring of the content of selected elements (Al, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Se and Zn) in three species of edible mushrooms: Cantharellus cibarius Fr., Suillus luteus (L.) Roussel and Imleria badia (Fr.) Vizzini from three areas in Slovakia (PraÅ¡ice, Bobrov and DobroÄ). Qualitative and quantitative determination of the observed elements was performed by ICP-OES and/or CV-AAS.
All results were statistically evaluated at both descriptive and differential analysis level. Due to the fact that picking and subsequent consumption of edible wild mushrooms is popular in Slovakia, the data obtained were evaluated and compared to tolerable weekly intakes defined by WHO. Based on the content of the monitored elements, PTWI values were not exceeded in any of the species from the studied sites. In some cases, however, specific content values, especially Al, but also Cd and Hg were exceeded compared to the average concentrations of elements in mushrooms from uncontaminated areas. In general, it can be stated that regular and long-term consumption of the mushrooms does not pose any health risk to the consumers.