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Heavy metals in fungi


Feral Boy

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http://archive.food.gov.uk/maff/archive/fo...99/199multi.htm

This survey was carried out to measure the concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, platinum, tin, titanium and zinc in two types of food found in the wild; fungi and blackberries.

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  • 3 years later...

Thank you for reminding us of this issue. I live on a section of rural land with a lot of Indian artifacts. Since the use of arrows firearms have been used here for at least 150 years with the incidence of lead pellets increasing greatly from the 1950s to now. Other members of my family and I have distributed perhaps 200 lbs of lead within a perimeter defined by the range of a .22 long fired at shoulder level. I'm nearly 70 so it won't affect me greatly but I worry about my grandchildren and even more for my grandnieces and nephews who live nearby. You've raised an issue we all should take more seriously. No place you may hunt, no place you may fish is immune from heavy metal contamination, even the backwoods of northern forests you may consider virgin territory. If you'll look you'll find, as I did, remnants of those old, old stone fences.

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This is a good time to mention the lead/arsenic problem that affects some old apple orchards where morels are collected. Morels are also known to uptake these toxic substances.

During the years 1880-1960 lead-arsenate was often used as a pesticide in apple orchards. Accumulation due to long-term application has caused significant ground pollution of apple orchards in New York, New Jersey, New England, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and probably other places. In at least one case of a person suffering from lead poisoning, orchard morels have been suspected as the cause.

I hunt morels in several old orchards here in NE PA. They are mainly small 2-4 acre plots on old family farms. I tested soil for lead content in each of these locations, and each time the test showed no significant lead content. So it looks like lead-arsenate was not used --at least not extensively-- in these orchards.

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Way to go Dave. I remember a brand name, Paris Green, used on other than orchard fruits to kill soft bodied insects. As a child one of my spring chores was to scoop a half-pound or so into a piece of hosery and give it a shake over each field plant. Empty and repeat.

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According to Wikipedia, Paris Green is a highly toxic copper arsenite that used to be mixed with lead arsenate for application to apple trees.

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Thanks vtog. The copper explains the color. What I recall from 60 years ago is the lead. You can believe me when I tell you it was used on far more than apple trees and there were times when I was also green from the drifting dust.

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Our family had a small orchard in the Missouri Ozarks about 50 years ago, and I remember spraying fruit trees with lead arsenate. It was used a lot back then, along with DDT.

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Now you're really bringing up memories. DDT? I was crossing one of my grandfather's cotton fields one Summer day when I was 6. The crop duster pilot didn't even hesitate. The weight of the dust nearly knocked me back a step and there's no telling how much I ingested. No immediate effects though. These days cotton is grown pesticide free but cherries, plums, and peaches--heavily laced with powerful fungicides and pesticides. Lure traps for them are starting to come on the market though.

Thanks vitog.

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  • 1 year later...

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