Radioactive Contaminants in Edible Mushrooms: A Comparative Study of Cs and Natural Radionuclides in Amasya and Tekirdağ, Türkiye.

Mushrooms are a significant component of human diets but can bioaccumulate hazardous substances, including both anthropogenic (Cs) and naturally occurring (U, Th, and K) radionuclides. This study quantified these radionuclides in 24 commonly consumed mushroom species collected in Amasya and Tekirdağ, provinces of Türkiye. Using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector, we found Cs activity in the Tekirdağ samples ranging from 3.9 to 127.8 Bq/kg, while the Cs activity in the Amasya samples ranged from 3.1 to 63.7 Bq/kg. In particular, (Tekirdağ) and (Amasya) exhibited notably higher Cs concentrations. The concentration of U varied between 4.8 and 17.5 Bq/kg in the Tekirdağ samples and 6.5 and 16 Bq/kg in the Amasya samples, whereas the Th and K values fluctuated across species and regions, with K sometimes exceeding 1900 Bq/kg. These results highlight that mushrooms can serve as effective bioindicators for residual radioactive contamination and underline the need for periodic monitoring to assess potential public health risks associated with wild mushroom consumption. These findings also offer a valuable dataset for understanding post-Chernobyl fallout dynamics in the forest ecosystems of Türkiye.