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Activity concentrations and bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of natural radionuclides (40 K, 226Ra, and 232Th) from cultivated substrates to mushrooms

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Abstract

This study examined 42 mushroom samples and corresponding cultivated substrates. The radionuclide activity concentrations and bioconcentration factor (BCF) from substrate-to-mushroom were determined. The substrate activity concentrations were 59.1–727.5, 4.5–37.6, and 4.0–53.0 Bq/kg dw (dry weight) for 40 K, 226Ra, and 232Th, respectively. The average 40 K concentrations were 1546.5, 1115.7, and 749.3 Bq/kg dw; the BCFs were 2.49, 3.56, and 5.58 for A. bisporus, F. velutipes, and L. edodes, respectively. The 40 K concentrations were insignificantly correlated with each species’ corresponding substrate concentration. The 40 K BCFs had a significantly negative correlation with the substrate concentration for each species. Each mushroom species’ 40 K concentration was almost stable, suggesting that 40 K has a regulated homeostasis for a given species. The average 226Ra concentrations were 5.5, 5.4, and 3.4 Bq/kg dw; the BCFs were 0.58, 0.17, and 0.50 for L. edodes, A. bisporus, and F. velutipes, respectively. The average 232Th concentrations were 4.7, 4.7, and 3.0 Bq/kg dw; the BCFs were 0.50, 0.11, and 0.53 for L. edodes, A. bisporus, and F. velutipes, respectively. The 226Ra and 232Th concentrations in mushrooms had a weak to moderate correlation with the cultivated substrate concentrations. The absorption of the 226Ra and 232Th from substrate-to-mushroom was similar to the hypothesis of the linear model that mushroom concentration yields a positive correlation with substrate concentration.

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Data availability

The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the technical assistance from Radiation Monitoring Center, Atomic Energy Council.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Atomic Energy Council Executive Yuan, Taiwan, through project 109–2623-E-020–001-NU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung, 91201, Taiwan

    Wei-Hsiang Huang, Chih-Chung Lin, Yung-Yu Liu, Chao-Min Huang & Ting-Chien Chen

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, National Pingtung University Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung, 91201, Taiwan

    Yi-Lung Yeh

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  1. Wei-Hsiang Huang
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Contributions

Conceptualization, T-C Chen and Y-L Yeh; methodology and analysis, W–H Huang, C–C Lin, Y-Y Liu, and C-M Huang; data curation, W–H Huang, Y-Y Liu, and C-M Huang; writing, W–H Huang, C–C Lin, and T-C Chen.

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Correspondence to Ting-Chien Chen.

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Huang, WH., Lin, CC., Liu, YY. et al. Activity concentrations and bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of natural radionuclides (40 K, 226Ra, and 232Th) from cultivated substrates to mushrooms. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 82512–82523 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21638-4

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