Authors
Ondřej HarkutP. AlexaRadim Uhlář
Topics
Lichen and fungal ecologyFungal Biology and ApplicationsRadioactive contamination and transferlifeArticleOndˇrej Harkut , Petr Alexa * and Radim UhláˇrCitation: Harkut, O.; Alexa, P.; Uhláˇr, R. Radiocaesium Contamination of Mushrooms at High- and Low-Level Chernobyl Exposure Sites and Its Consequences for Public Health. Life 2021, 11, 1370. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/life11121370Academic Editors: Fabrizio Ambrosino and Supitcha ChanyothaReceived: 6 November 2021 Accepted: 4 December 2021 Published: 9 December 2021Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil iations.Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).Department of Physics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, VŠB-Technical University ofOstrava, 17. listopadu 2172/15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic; ondrej.harkut.st@vsb.cz (O.H.);radim.uhlar@vsb.cz (R.U.)Correspondence: petr.alexa@vsb.czAbstract: We compare the specific activities of 137Cs and 40K in stipes and caps of three different common mushroom species (Xerocomus badius, Russula ochroleuca and Armillariella mellea) measured at the Czech Chernobyl hot spot in the Opava area (Silesia) and at a low-exposed site at the Beskydy mountains in 2011. The highest values of 137Cs were found in caps of Xerocomus badius and Russula ochroleuca in the Opava area (11.8 and 8.77 kBq/kg, respectively). The source of 137Cs was verified by the measurement of the 134Cs/137Cs ratio. Based on our results, we estimate an effective dose per year due to radiocaesium intake in the two investigated areas for Xerocomus badius, one of the most popular edible mushrooms in the Czech Republic. In 2011, the effective dose reached the maximum value of 0.102 mSv in the Opava area and 0.004 mSv at the low-exposed site at the Beskydy mountains. Therefore, it does not represent a significant risk for public health.Keywords: radiocaesium; mushrooms; Chernobyl accident
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PublishedDec 9, 2021
TypeArticle
Citations5
References40