WILD mushrooms throughout Europe and beyond may still pose a threat to health
following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.
Pavel Kalac of the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic has
reviewed reports on consumption of wild mushrooms, which soak up radioactive
caesium. He says animals such as deer that eat the mushrooms have elevated
levels of radio-caesium in their tissues (Food Chemistry, vol 75, p
29).
Wild mushrooms are popular in central and eastern Europe. In the Czech
Republic almost three-quarters of families collect an average of 7 kilograms a
year. Kalac says contamination can be…
