ABSTRACT

The total mercury concentrations were determined in caps and stalks or a whole fruiting bodies of 13 species of edible mushrooms collected at the area of Kościerzyna forests (District of Gdańsk) and the Vistula Penninsula (District of Elbląg) in 1993/94. The method of measurement was cold-vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS) after wet digestion of the samples with concentrated nitric acid. Macrolepiota procera showed highest mercury concentration among species investigated and contained, respectively, 1 1 0 0 µg/kg dry wt in caps and 580 µg/kg in stalks, while Lycoperdon perlatum showed 1100 µg/kg in a whole fruiting body. Suillus granulatus, Xerocomus subtomentosus, Leccinum scabrum, Oudemansiella platyphylla and Lactarius delicious contained mercury in concentration from 150 to 370 µg/kg dry wt in caps and from 70 to 180 µg/kg in stalks. Suillus bovinus, Chroogomphus rulilus and Armillariella mellea showed smallest concentrations of mercury between species examined, i.e. in caps from 29 to 65 µg/kg and in stalks from 23 to 49 µg/kg, on a average. Leccinum scabrum and Xerocomus badius were collected from the both distant in space sampling sites. In the case of L. scabrum the concentrations of mercury were very similar for the both sites investigated, i.e. between 290±100 and 370±330 in caps, and 180±60 and 220±160 µg/kg dry wt in stalks, while for X. badius differed and were between 73±20 and 220±60 in caps, and 49±13 and 130±40 in stalks (p<0.001).