Heavy metals in Mushrooms

Mushrooms overview

Mushrooms in the HMI library has 5,061 reported results for lead, cadmium, total arsenic, inorganic arsenic, dimethylarsinic acid, total mercury, methylmercury, nickel, chromium, aluminium, tin, antimony, uranium, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, V, Se, AC, AC2, Ag, As, As(III), As(V), AsB, AsBamide, B, Ba, Ca, Cs, Hg, I, K, La, Li, Mg, Mo, Na, orgAs, Pr, Rb, S, Sc, Sm, Sr, Te, Ti, Tl, Tm and UNK from 69 sources.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →3Fechner C, Hackethal C, Höpfner T, Dietrich J, Bloch D, Lindtner O, Sarvan I · 2022Results of the BfR MEAL Study: In Germany, mercury is mostly contained in fish and seafood while cadmium, lead, and nickel are present in a broad spectrum of foodsFood Chemistry: XRead source →4Marín S, Pardo O, Sánchez A, Sanchis Y, Vélez D, Devesa V, Font G, Yusà V · 2018Assessment of metal levels in foodstuffs from the Region of Valencia (Spain)Toxicology Reports 5 (2018) 654-670Read source →5Mirończuk-Chodakowska I, Socha K, Witkowska AM, Zujko ME, Borawska MH · 2013Cadmium and Lead in Wild Edible Mushrooms from the Eastern Region of Poland’s ‘Green Lungs’Polish Journal of Environmental StudiesRead source →6Qin G, Liu J, Zou K, He F, Li Y, Liu R, Zhang P, Zhao G, Wang T, Chen B · 2024Analysis of heavy metal characteristics and health risks of edible mushrooms in the mid-western region of ChinaScientific Reports 2024, 14:26960Read source →} WHO GEMS/Food submissions reported lead in mushrooms, as sold from 10,457 results in 4 reporting regions, with subgroup medians from 5 to 210 µg/kg.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →} In the US Total Diet Study, mushrooms, as sold had a median lead result below 4 µg/kg across 27 composites from 2017–2020.^{2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →}

Across 8 other studies of ordinary farms and markets, reported lead means and medians on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis ranged from 5.7 µg/kg (Qin et al. 2024) to 886 µg/kg (Stihi et al. 2025).^{6Qin G, Liu J, Zou K, He F, Li Y, Liu R, Zhang P, Zhao G, Wang T, Chen B · 2024Analysis of heavy metal characteristics and health risks of edible mushrooms in the mid-western region of ChinaScientific Reports 2024, 14:26960Read source →8Stihi C, Dumitrescu C · 2025Assessment of the Impact of Metals in Wild Edible Mushrooms from Dambovita County, Romania, on Human HealthFoods 2025, 14(20), 3540Read source →} For cadmium, 11 studies on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis reported means and medians from 1.6 µg/kg (Qin et al. 2024) to 1,730 µg/kg (Qin et al. 2024).^{6Qin G, Liu J, Zou K, He F, Li Y, Liu R, Zhang P, Zhao G, Wang T, Chen B · 2024Analysis of heavy metal characteristics and health risks of edible mushrooms in the mid-western region of ChinaScientific Reports 2024, 14:26960Read source →} Higher results came from contaminated or exposed settings rather than ordinary supply. Mushrooms, as sold from substrate amended with 0.4 mM each of As(III), As(V) and DMAA (experiment) had As(III) higher at 3,990 µg/kg, against 260 µg/kg for no arsenic added to substrate (control) in the same study.^{9Mleczek M, Niedzielski P, Siwulski M, Rzymski P, Gasecka M, Golinski P, Kozak L, Kozubik T · 2016Importance of low substrate arsenic content in mushroom cultivation and safety of final food productEuropean Food Research and TechnologyRead source →}

For a buyer the practical points are the form bought, the basis a result is reported on, where the mushrooms came from and the laboratory’s reporting limit. Testing finds contamination but does not remove it.

What counts as mushrooms

This page covers mushrooms in 4 forms kept separate in every comparison: mushrooms, as sold (4,578 results), mushrooms, dried (418 results), mushrooms, canned (43 results) and mushrooms, powder or ground (22 results).^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →3Fechner C, Hackethal C, Höpfner T, Dietrich J, Bloch D, Lindtner O, Sarvan I · 2022Results of the BfR MEAL Study: In Germany, mercury is mostly contained in fish and seafood while cadmium, lead, and nickel are present in a broad spectrum of foodsFood Chemistry: XRead source →4Marín S, Pardo O, Sánchez A, Sanchis Y, Vélez D, Devesa V, Font G, Yusà V · 2018Assessment of metal levels in foodstuffs from the Region of Valencia (Spain)Toxicology Reports 5 (2018) 654-670Read source →5Mirończuk-Chodakowska I, Socha K, Witkowska AM, Zujko ME, Borawska MH · 2013Cadmium and Lead in Wild Edible Mushrooms from the Eastern Region of Poland’s ‘Green Lungs’Polish Journal of Environmental StudiesRead source →6Qin G, Liu J, Zou K, He F, Li Y, Liu R, Zhang P, Zhao G, Wang T, Chen B · 2024Analysis of heavy metal characteristics and health risks of edible mushrooms in the mid-western region of ChinaScientific Reports 2024, 14:26960Read source →} Foods made from mushrooms that have their own pages, such as canned mushrooms and wild mushrooms, are covered there.

Results stay on the basis each source reports: as sold or fresh weight, dry weight, or unstated. Dry-weight, as-sold and unstated results are never pooled, and no moisture conversion is applied.

Heavy metal contamination profile of mushrooms

The table holds every extracted mushrooms result: one row for each statistic a source reports for a form, group and metal, 5,061 rows in all, grouped by metal and form; percentiles, ranges and maxima for the same samples as a mean or median are shown on that row.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →3Fechner C, Hackethal C, Höpfner T, Dietrich J, Bloch D, Lindtner O, Sarvan I · 2022Results of the BfR MEAL Study: In Germany, mercury is mostly contained in fish and seafood while cadmium, lead, and nickel are present in a broad spectrum of foodsFood Chemistry: XRead source →4Marín S, Pardo O, Sánchez A, Sanchis Y, Vélez D, Devesa V, Font G, Yusà V · 2018Assessment of metal levels in foodstuffs from the Region of Valencia (Spain)Toxicology Reports 5 (2018) 654-670Read source →5Mirończuk-Chodakowska I, Socha K, Witkowska AM, Zujko ME, Borawska MH · 2013Cadmium and Lead in Wild Edible Mushrooms from the Eastern Region of Poland’s ‘Green Lungs’Polish Journal of Environmental StudiesRead source →6Qin G, Liu J, Zou K, He F, Li Y, Liu R, Zhang P, Zhao G, Wang T, Chen B · 2024Analysis of heavy metal characteristics and health risks of edible mushrooms in the mid-western region of ChinaScientific Reports 2024, 14:26960Read source →} Monitoring medians are HMI calculations from individual submissions; non-detects remain intervals between zero and the reporting limit and are never read as zero.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →}

2,049 rows can be rated against an HMI reference for the same form and basis, 357 rows have a direct same-study comparison, and the rest stay unrated with the reason recorded. 87 values from 12 sources failed a check against their own source and are shown but not compared.^{7Domagalska J, Rusin M, Rogala D, Gut-Pietrasz K, Buczkowska M · 2026Evaluation of Toxic Elements in Commercial Dried Mushrooms from the Polish Market: Exposure Assessment and Health Risk CharacterizationMolecules 2026, 31(11), 1865Read source →8Stihi C, Dumitrescu C · 2025Assessment of the Impact of Metals in Wild Edible Mushrooms from Dambovita County, Romania, on Human HealthFoods 2025, 14(20), 3540Read source →10Rusin M, Domagalska J, Czendlik A, Wróbel N, Kidoń A · 2025Spatial Variation in Cd, Pb, Hg, and Zn Accumulation in Edible Wild-Growing Mushroom Species from Different Environmentally Loaded Areas in Southern Poland: Risk Assessment and Implications for Consumer SafetyToxics 2026, 14(1), 36 (published online 29 December 2025)Read source →11Bucurica IA, Dulama ID, Radulescu C, Banica AL, Stanescu SG · 2024Heavy Metals and Associated Risks of Wild Edible Mushrooms Consumption: Transfer Factor, Carcinogenic Risk, and Health Risk IndexJournal of Fungi 2024, 10(12), 844Read source →12Ali Keles, Huseyin Genccelep · 2023Wild mushrooms from Eastern Black Sea Region (Turkiye): Element concentrations and their health risk assessmentAnatolian Journal of Botany 7(1):50-59Read source →13Kumar P, Kumar V, Eid EM, AL-Huqail AA, Adelodun B, Abou Fayssal S, Goala M, Arya AK, Bachheti A, Andabaka Z, Choi KS, Siric I · 2022Spatial Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTE) Concentration in Agaricus bisporus Mushroom Collected from Local Vegetable Markets of Uttarakhand State, IndiaJournal of Fungi 2022, 8(5), 452Read source →14Yildiz S, Dogan HH, Gurgen A, Cevik U · 2024Elemental Composition of A Cultivated Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and Some Wild Mushroom SpeciesBartın Orman Fakültesi Dergisi (Journal of Bartin Faculty of Forestry) 2024, 26(1): 55-63Read source →15Orywal K, Socha K, Nowakowski P, Zoń W, Kaczyński P, Mroczko B, Łozowicka B, Perkowski M · 2021Health risk assessment of exposure to toxic elements resulting from consumption of dried wild-grown mushrooms available for salePLoS ONERead source →16Jasińska A, Wojciechowska E, Stoknes K, Siwulski M, Mleczek M, Niedzielski P · 2019Relationship between zinc and cadmium contents and cultivating conditions of gourmet and medicinal mushroom Agaricus subrufescensInternational Journal of Horticultural ScienceRead source →17Lalotra P, Gupta D, Yangdol R, Sharma YP, Gupta SK · 2016Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the sporocarps of some wild mushroomsCurrent Research in Environmental & Applied MycologyRead source →18Brzezicha-Cirocka J, Medyk M, Falandysz J, Szefer P · 2016Bio- and toxic elements in edible wild mushrooms from two regions of potentially different environmental conditions in eastern PolandEnvironmental Science and Pollution ResearchRead source →19Mleczek M, Budka A, Siwulski M, Mleczek P, Budzyńska S, Proch J, Gąsecka M, Niedzielski P, Rzymski P · 2021A comparison of toxic and essential elements in edible wild and cultivated mushroom speciesEuropean Food Research and Technology (2021) 247:1249-1262Read source →}