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Health Risks for Consumers of Forest Ground Cover Produce Contaminated with Heavy Metals

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Overview

Niezgoda and colleagues collected 26 fresh wild edible mushroom samples of six species from the Lubliniec Forests in Silesia, southern Poland, located in the influence zone of the Miasteczko Slaskie zinc smelter. Cadmium, lead, arsenic, and nickel were measured by ET-AAS; total mercury by CV-AFS. Cadmium mean (0.98 mg/kg fresh weight) exceeded the Polish and EU maximum allowable concentration (0.50 mg/kg fresh weight) for wild fungi. Children consuming mushrooms with moderate metal levels showed hazard quotients for lead above one, indicating a significant non-cancer health risk.

Key numbers

  • Cadmium (n=26 fresh mushroom samples): mean 0.98 ± 0.82 mg/kg fresh weight; range 0.13 to 3.35; MAC = 0.50 mg/kg fresh weight (Table 2).
  • Lead: mean 0.60 ± 0.58 mg/kg fresh weight; range 0.08 to 2.05; MAC = 0.80 mg/kg fresh weight (Table 2).
  • Total mercury: mean 0.0274 ± 0.0407 mg/kg fresh weight; range 0.0013 to 0.1242 (Table 2).
  • Arsenic: not detected above LOQ of 0.43 mg/kg (Table 2).
  • Nickel: not detected above LOQ of 0.83 mg/kg (Table 2).
  • Species sampled: Xerocomus subtomentosus, Boletus badius, Leccinum aurantiacum, Leccinum scabrum, Boletus edulis, Suillus luteus.
  • Zone S1 (within 15 km of smelter): cadmium mean 1.24 mg/kg, lead mean 0.68 mg/kg; Zone S2 (more than 15 km): cadmium mean 0.82 mg/kg, lead mean 0.51 mg/kg. Differences between zones were not statistically significant (Table 2).
  • Children, moderate consumption scenario: lead (Pb) HQ 1.10 (above unity); cadmium cancer risk calculated with SF = 380 µg/kg/day.

Methods (brief)

ET-AAS (SavantAA Sigma, GBC) for cadmium, lead, and nickel; CV-AFS (Millennium Merlin 10.025) for total mercury; ICP-OES for arsenic. Microwave acid digestion (65% HNO3 + 30% H2O2). LOQs: cadmium (Cd) 0.008, Pb 0.080, arsenic (As) 0.43, nickel (Ni) 0.83 mg/kg, mercury (Hg) 0.0005 mg/kg. Recovery verified against tomato paste CRM TYG076RM.

Evidence fitness

A direct fresh-weight survey with documented method and CRM validation, from a cadmium-impacted forest zone in Silesia. Limitations: small sample size per species (n=26 total across six species), no species-level breakdown of metal concentrations in Table 2, and arsenic and nickel were below LOQ in all mushroom samples. The industrial proximity setting means concentrations are likely above background for this region of Poland.

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