ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine the contamination and bioconcentration potential of mercury (Hg) in Yellow-ocher Brittle Gills known also as Yellow-ocher Brittle Gill or Common Russula (Russula ochroleuca) mushroom. Matured fruiting bodies of this fungus and soil samples were collected at ten spatially distant unpolluted sites in the northern part of Poland in 2004-2008. Total Hg content of fruiting bodies and soil were determined by cold-vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy (CV-AAS). The total Hg content of the Yellow-ocher Brittle Gills varied between 0.017 and 0.43 µg/g dry weights in individual caps and between 0.011 and 0.24 µg/g dw in the stipes. The mean mercury content of the mushroom varied spatially (p < 0.001) between the sites - in caps between 0.039 ± 0.024 and 0.18 ± 0.11 µg/g dw; and in stipes between 0.027 ± 0.014 and 0.13 ± 0.06 µg/g dw. The caps usually contained Hg in greater concentrations than stipes and the mean values of cap to stipe Hg concentration quotient (Q(c/s)) varied from 1.3 ± 0.4 to 1.9 ± 0.04. The range of Hg concentrations in the top soil layer (0-10 cm) varied from 0.011 to 0.51 µg/g dw (mean values varied between 0.025 ± 0.010 and 0.18 ± 0.13 µg/g dw). Mean Hg bioconcentration factor (BCF) varied between 0.57 ± 0.30 and 5.6 ± 1.7 for caps and 0.50 ± 0.49 and 3.3 ± 1.8 for stipes. Yellow-ocher Brittle Gills from Trójmiejski Landscape Park contained Hg at greater concentration compared to other sites. Also presented is a review of data on Hg contents of the genus Russula (41 species, both edible and inedible to man) collected from across the world.
Subject(s)
Basidiomycota/metabolism , Environmental Exposure , Mercury/metabolism , Soil Pollutants/metabolism , Basidiomycota/chemistry , Environmental Monitoring , Food Analysis , Food Contamination/analysis , Mercury/analysis , Poland , Soil Pollutants/analysis , Species Specificity , Spectrophotometry, Atomic , Tissue DistributionABSTRACT
Total mercury content have been determined in fruiting bodies of Bay Bolete and its underlying soil substrate collected from three spatially distant sites of the country--outskirts of the Mojusz village (Sierakowice Commune, Pomorskie Voivodeship), at the forest inspectorate Turek (Wielkopolskie Voiv.) and near the Lipie village at the Starachowickie forests (Swietokrzyskie Voiv.). Bay Bolete showed small mercury content, i.e. in caps on the average were 0.33 +/- 0.16 (Mojusz), 0.05 +/- 0.03 (Turek) and 0.12 +/- 0.04 microg/g dry weight (Lipie), and in stipes were 0.23 +/- 0.12 (Mojusz), 0.03 +/- 0.02 (Turek) and 0.08 +/- 0.02 (Lipie) microg/g dw. In addition, forest soil at the sites surveyed remained only slightly contaminated with mercury. Surface soil layer (0-10 cm) at the Mojusz, Lipie and Turek sites on the average contained mercury at concentration of 0.11 +/- 0.09, 0.14 +/- 0.05 and 0.05 +/- 0.01 microg/g dw, and median values were 0.053, 0.15 and 0,05 microg/g ms, respectively. Soil at the Lasów Starachowickie forests remained somehow more contaminated with mercury when compared to two other sites surveyed (p < 0.05). The fruiting bodies of Bay Bolete from the area of the Sierakowice Commune characterized were by early four-fold greater value of bioconcentration factor (BCF) of mercury when compared to these from the forest inspectorate Turek or the Starachowickie forests. Variances observed probably explained could be due to different mercury bioavailability to Bay Bolete at the sites surveyed. Enhanced mercury bioavailability highly influenced this element content of Bay Bolete at the Mojusz (Sierakowice Commune) site.
