Mercury in the Grisette, Amanita vaginata Fr. and soil below the fruiting bodies

Abstract

This study examined the mercury concentration in the Grisette Amanita vaginata Fr. and soil below the fruiting bodies collected between 2000 and 2008 from the wild at seven distant sites across Poland. The Hg content in samples was determined by cold atomic absorption method (CV-AAS) at a wavelength of 253.7 nm. Mean Hg contents varied from 0.096 ± 0.052 to 0.48 ± 0.13 mg kg⁻¹ dry matter (dm) in caps (range, 0.043–0.73 mg kg⁻¹), from 0.047 ± 0.02 to 0.23 ± 0.07 mg kg⁻¹ dm (range, 0.028–0.47 mg kg⁻¹) in stipes, and in underlying soil were from 0.035 ± 0.018 to 0.096 ± 0.036 mg kg⁻¹ dm (range, 0.017 to 0.16 mg kg⁻¹). The median Qc/s values ranged from 1.2 to 2.2 (mean 1.2 ± 0.4 to 2.1 ± 0.5) indicating that Hg content in stipes was generally lower than in caps. This mushroom species has some potential to bioconcentrate Hg in the fruiting bodies, as the values of the bioconcentration factor (BCF) varied for the sites between 1.2 ± 0.6 to 11 ± 5 for caps and 0.61 ± 0.26 to 7.4 ± 3.9 for stipes. Also available literature data on Hg in A. vaginata are reviewed and discussed.

Keywords:

• Mercury
• Amanita vaginata
• forest
• fungi
• soil
• pollution

Acknowledgments

This study is in part based on PhD thesis by Małgorzata Drewnowska. Technical support by Dorota Chojnacka, Justyna Chorążak, Karolina Czapiewska, Anna Konwerska, Karolina Jackiewicz, Magdalena Zagajewska, and Agnieszka Zając is acknowledged.