Radioactive caesium (134Cs and 137Cs) in mushrooms of the genus Boletus from the Reggio Emilia in Italy and Pomerania in Poland.

Activity concentrations of 134Cs and 137Cs were determined in mushrooms of the Boletus species B. aereus, B. reticulatus, B. appendiculatus, B. calopus, B. edulis, B. erythropus, B. fechtneri, B. pinophilus, B. pseudoregius, B. rhodopurpureus, B. rhodoxanthus collected in the Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1993 and 1994 and in B. edulis collected in Pomerania in northern Poland in the period from 1995-2015. Boletus edulis from the Reggio Emilia showed presence of 137Cs at 330 ± 220 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in 1993 and at 370 ± 180 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in 1994. In B. edulis sampled in the Reggio Emilia in 1993 and 1994, the pre-Chernobyl 137Cs from global fallout amounted to 39-46 % of the total activity concentrations of isotope 137Cs. B. edulis from Pomerania contained 137Cs in caps at 270 ± 15 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in 1995, and in whole fruiting bodies it was found to be 470 ± 9 Bq kg-1 dry biomass in 2015. The activity concentrations of 137Cs determined in fruiting bodies of B. edulis from Pomerania fluctuated but persisted over the period from 1995 to 2015, while the maximum activity concentrations were well below the tolerance limit of 600 Bq kg-1 fresh product.