Bioaccumulation of the artificial Cs-137 and the natural radionuclides Th-234, Ra-226, and K-40 in the fruit bodies of Basidiomycetes in Greece

The bioaccumulation of artificial Cs-137 and natural radionuclides Th-234, Ra-226, and K-40 by Basidiomycetes of several species is studied and evaluated in relation to their substratum soils. For this reason, 32 fungal samples, representing 30 species of Basidiomycetes, were collected along with their substratum soil samples, from six selected sampling areas in Greece. The fungal fruit bodies and the soil samples were properly treated and the activity concentrations of the studied radionuclides were measured by gamma spectroscopy. The measured radioactivity levels ranged as follows: Cs-137 from <0.1 to 87.2 ± 0.4 Bq kg−1 fresh weight (F.W.), Th-234 from <0.5 ± 0.9 to 28.3 ± 25.5 Bq kg−1 F.W., Ra-226 from <0.3 to 1.0 ± 0.5 Bq kg−1 F.W., and K-40 from 56.4 ± 3.0 to 759.0 ± 28.3 Bq kg−1 F.W. The analysis of the results supported that the bioaccumulation of the studied natural radionuclides and Cs-137 is dependent on the species and the functional group of the fungi. Fungi were found to accumulate Th-234 and not U-238. What is more, potential bioindicators for each radionuclide among the 32 species studied could be suggested for each habitat, based on their estimated concentration ratios (CRs). The calculation of the CRs’ mean values for each radionuclide revealed a rank in decreasing order for all the species studied.