Study of Heavy Metals in Wild Edible Mushrooms by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XFS) (CAT#: STEM-ST-0233-WXH)

Introduction

Studies on metals in fungi have shown a correlation between fungal metal content and sources of metal pollution, such as smelters and road proximity. The fleshy sporocarps of macrofungi have a short lifetime (1-2 weeks), although the mycelium growing in soil may live for many years. Thus, fungal sporocarps are especially useful as a bioindicator, because their short life for leaching of metals or for deposition of pollution onto the sporocarps surface makes them appropriate for environmental contamination. However, the absorption rates between fungal species are not the same, and differences are also observed in the same species for different metals, making some species better indicators than others for some elements.