Radioactivity in Boletus mushrooms from southwest China
What it found
Wild Boletus mushrooms from Yunnan and Sichuan contained very low levels of radioactive caesium-137, and natural radioactive potassium-40 was about 100 times higher.
The authors estimate the radiation dose from eating these mushrooms is very low.
What they found
Caesium-137 in caps
In the caps, caesium-137 ranged from below the detection limit to 36 plus or minus 2 becquerels per kilogram dry weight. The median was 7.7 becquerels per kilogram dry weight.
Caesium-137 in stipes
In the stipes, caesium-137 ranged from below the detection limit to 20 plus or minus 1 becquerels per kilogram dry weight. The median was 7.2 becquerels per kilogram dry weight.
No caesium-134 found
No caesium-134 was detected in any of the mushrooms.
Potassium-40 in caps
In the caps, potassium-40 ranged from 420 to 1900 becquerels per kilogram dry weight. The median was 1300 becquerels per kilogram dry weight.
Potassium-40 in stipes
In the stipes, potassium-40 ranged from 240 to 1800 becquerels per kilogram dry weight. The median was 960 becquerels per kilogram dry weight.
Estimated radiation dose
For 1 kg of fresh mushrooms eaten per year, the estimated dose from caesium-137 ranged from below 0.0031 to 0.047 microsieverts, and from potassium-40 from 0.22 to 1.2 microsieverts. The authors say these doses are very low.
What the authors conclude
“The overall intake of 137 Cs was low since low contamination was found in Boletus species.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the caesium-137 levels in Boletus mushrooms from Sichuan and Yunnan are very low and that mushroom meals contribute very little to the yearly radiation dose for people there.
- They note that the dose from natural potassium-40 was about ten times greater than from caesium-137.
- They report that the caesium-137 levels in these mushrooms are around 100 times lower than the potassium-40 levels.
How it was done
The authors wanted to fill a gap in data on radioactive fallout in mushrooms from China, since most published data come from Europe after the Chernobyl accident. They also wanted to check whether levels differ between Boletus species and between collection sites.
They collected 807 fruiting bodies of 21 Boletus species from Yunnan between 2011 and 2014 and from Sichuan in 2012, making 87 composite samples. They measured caesium-137 and potassium-40 in the caps and stipes using a gamma detector, and estimated the radiation dose from eating 1 kg of fresh mushrooms per year.
What it can’t tell you
- This study measured radioactivity in mushrooms, not health effects in people.
- The dose estimates assume people eat 1 kg of fresh mushrooms per year, but actual intakes vary.
- The measurements cover mushrooms collected in 2011 to 2014, so they may not reflect other years or places.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Gdańsk University, Poland; Institute of Medicinal Plants, China; Yunnan Technical Center for Quality of Chinese Materia Medica, China
The paper
- Title
- Radioactive artificial 137 Cs and natural 40 K activity in 21 edible mushrooms of the genus Boletus species from SW China
- Type
- Study
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Falandysz J, Zhang J, Zalewska T (2017). Radioactive artificial 137 Cs and natural 40 K activity in 21 edible mushrooms of the genus Boletus species from SW China. Environmental science and pollution research international. doi:10.1007/s11356-017-8494-7Free full textPubMed 28150146DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error