Concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs in forest mushrooms and soil in southern Poland

Since 1986, Poland has been constantly contaminated with radioactive ¹³⁷Cs, and before that, it experienced fallout like most of the world since nuclear bomb tests. As a result of radioactive fallout, vegetation and fungi acquired contamination. The distribution and migration of ¹³⁷Cs between elements of the environment affect the uptake of the radionuclide by animals and its movement up the food chain. This research was conducted to measure the concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs in soil and mushrooms and to understand radionuclide transfer.

The research material consisted of mushroom and soil samples obtained from a forest in southern Poland. A total of 30 fungi and 20 soil samples were tested using gamma radiation spectrometry.

The highest concentration in a whole-mushroom sample was 1,650 ± 20.40 Bq/kg, in a stipe was 2,192 ± 264.1 Bq/kg and in a cap was 1,323 ± 159.5 Bq/kg. The highest concentration in a soil sample taken from a depth of 0-10 cm was 105.7 ± 13.15 Bq/kg and in a sample from a depth of 10-20 cm was 39.48 ± 5.310 Bq/kg.

The obtained results indicate that the transfer of ¹³⁷Cs occurs from the soil towards the mushroom fruiting bodies, with the highest concentrations recorded in the stipes. Additionally, the cross-section of the transport profile shows the distribution of the tested radionuclide in individual elements of the environment and thus the degree of their radioactive contamination.