Lead and cadmium in fruiting bodies of macrofungi in the vicinity of a lead smelter.

The concentrations of lead and cadmium in the fruiting bodies of mycorrhizal and edible macrofungi (Basidiomycetes, Agaricales) were measured in the vicinity of a lead smelter. Very high concentrations of both metals were found 1 km from the stack, and elevated concentrations were observed up to a distance of 4.5 km. The dependence of the concentrations on the distance from the stack were approximated by an exponential function, the extrapolation of which showed that only at a distance of 6 km did the concentrations approach those reported from an area in the Krusné Hory Mountains with a medium level of air pollution. The concentrations of lead were slightly higher in the caps than in the stems of the fungal fruiting bodies from the sites close to the smelters; at a distance of 1.7 km they were the same, and at greater distances the lead concentrations in the caps were slightly lower than those in the stems. The cap/stem concentration ratio for cadmium does not exhibit any change with distance. The different behaviour of the two metals can be explained in terms of the lower mobility of Pb2+ ions. Because of their lead and cadmium contents, edible mycorrhizal fungi picked within a distance of 0.6 km of the stack can be toxic to man if eaten often in quantities that are usual in Czechoslovakia.