No radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl disaster in Hungarian white truffles (Tuber magnatum)

• Despite being one of the most expensive gourmet foods, it remains unclear if the iconic White Truffle (Tuber magnatum Pico; hereinafter WT) accumulates radioactivity at harmful levels comparable to other fungal species. Here, we measure the active radiocaesium-137 concentration (Cs-137) in ten hypogeous WT fruitbodies from southern Hungary, and the soils in which they were growing. All WTs reveal nonsignificant Cs-137 values, thus providing an 'all clear' for WT hunters in the species' northernmost habitats, where corresponding soil samples occasionally exhibit slight Cs-137 concentrations. Our results are particularly relevant in the light of a rapidly increasing global demand for WTs and their subsequent trading extent and price inflation, because up to 600 kg of fresh fruitbodies are harvested each year in southern Hungary. Moreover, some of Europe's forest ecosystems, in which mushroom picking is common practise, are still contaminated with Cs-137 from the Chernobyl fallout more than 30 years ago, posing a serious threat to human health.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Central Europe

Chernobyl disaster

Environmental contamination

Fungal ecology

Food toxicology

Radioactive pollution

Radiocaesium-137

Truffle fruitbodies

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)