Fungi: a major source of radiocesium contamination of grazing ruminants in Norway.

Transfer of radiocesium from vegetation to milk was studied in dairy goats grazing heavily contaminated mountain pasture in southern Norway in the years following the Chernobyl accident. Radiocesium activity in milk and green vegetation remained stable throughout 1986 and 1987. In 1988, a sudden three- to fivefold increase in milk radioactivity occurred during the second half of the summer. Whole-body content of radioactivity in sheep and reindeer also increased rapidly. This coincided with an abundant growth of fungal fruit bodies with radiocesium levels up to 100 times higher than green vegetation. Fungal radiocesium was found to be highly available in a digestibility study with goats. Milk radioactivity levels in the field could be accounted for by consumption of as little as 20-100 g d-1 of fungal dry matter (DM). The importance of fungal fruit bodies in transferring radiocesium to ruminants was further substantiated by comparing meat activities in grazing ruminants in 1988 and 1989. Fungal fruit bodies were present in minor quantities in 1989, and radioactivity levels in sheep and reindeer in August-September were only 28-35% of those in 1988. This ability of fungi to mobilize radiocesium from natural soils and transfer the isotopes into the human food chain greatly enhances the vulnerability of food production in natural ecosystems to radiocesium pollution.