Chernobyl accident After more than 30 years, edible mushrooms are still highly radioactive contaminated

32 years after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl: fungi still under radioactivity

Fall time is mushroom time: If you go to meadows and forests to collect tasty mushrooms, you should exercise caution. As results of measurements show, many species of fungi are still heavily radioactively contaminated 32 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Take care when collecting mushrooms

Many Germans love to wander through meadows and forests in autumn and bring delicious mushrooms home. But caution is needed here. On the one hand there is a likelihood of confusion with toadstools and on the other hand, some fungi in some regions are still heavily contaminated with radioactivity.

In some regions of Germany, certain types of fungi are still heavily contaminated with radioactive material more than 30 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. (Image: invizbk / fotolia.com)

Impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Measurements published in two recent reports by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) show that the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster still persist in Germany after 32 years.

According to this, individual wild mushroom species in certain regions of Bavaria are still heavily contaminated with radioactivity, reports the BfS in a statement.

However, the overall burden of agricultural products has been significantly reduced as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear accident and the current data are low.

Radioactive cesium measured in mushrooms

According to the information, in a number of wild mushrooms, significantly higher levels of radioactive cesium (cesium-137) were detected, which escaped into Chernobyl after the super-GAU.

This emerges from the current BfS report "Radioactive contamination of edible mushrooms (as of 2017)".

For example, Braunscheibige and Orangefalbe Schnecklinge or Red-brown Semmelstoppelpilze can have up to some 1,000 Becquerel (Bq) cesium-137 per kilogram fresh mass.

"In some wild mushroom species, more than three decades after the Chernobyl accident, no all-clear can be given," said BfS President Inge Paulini.

"Our results show that the radioactive contamination of these fungi is still very high, unlike other foods."

Due to its half-life of about 30 years, the Cesium-137 originating from the Chernobyl accident has only been decayed to about half.

No health consequences to be feared

As the BfE explains, more cesium-137 can be given to the body with a meal of highly contaminated wild mushrooms than with food from agricultural production within a whole year.

Nevertheless, according to the experts, health consequences are not to be feared if even collected wild mushrooms are consumed in normal amounts.

For mushrooms that are put on the market, a limit of 600 becquerels per kilogram must not be exceeded.

Different nature of the floors

According to the BfS, the highest levels of cesium-137 are found in wild mushrooms in highly contaminated smaller areas in the Bavarian Forest, in the Donaumoos southwest of Ingolstadt and in the Mittenwald region.

These areas were burdened by the reactor accident in 1986 ten times higher than, for example, the north of Germany. In other regions of the Republic, the levels in mushrooms are correspondingly lower due to the lower deposition of cesium-137.

The reason why wild mushrooms in the affected regions can be much more heavily polluted than agricultural products is the different nature of forest soils and agricultural soils.

The values ​​of cesium-137 in agricultural products are currently in Germany in the range of only a few becquerels per kilogram and below.

In this country, less than 100 becquerels of radio cesium are consumed per person per year with food from agricultural production.

Radioactive contamination of food

Overall, radioactive contamination of food has declined significantly as a result of the Chernobyl disaster.

This emerges from a recent report on environmental radioactivity in Germany, in which the BfS and other federal agencies publish measurement results from the years 2014 to 2016.

For example, the cesium-137 values ​​of inland freshwater fish in southern Germany have fallen by a factor of 200 since 1986.

For milk, the strain steadily decreases and is at a low level.

And for drinking and groundwater almost all measured values ​​for radiocesium are very low and are well below the required detection limits. (Ad)