On the occurrence, origin, and intake of the nuclides, 210 Po and 210 Pb, in sclerotia of Wolfiporia cocos collected in China.

The dried sclerotium of the fungus Wolfiporia cocos is edible and has medicinal value. This study aimed to understand the accumulation of radioactivity arising from the alpha 210 Po, and beta-emitting 210 Pb, in the sclerotium's shell and core and assess a potential effective dose for consumers. Sclerotia were collected in the wild and from cultivars in China's Anhui and Yunnan provinces. The mean values of 210 Po activity concentration levels were 0.36 Bq kg -1 dry weight in the core and 12.0 Bq kg -1 dw in the shell; 210 Pb activities were 0.43 and 9.84 Bq kg -1 dw, respectively. The potential effective radiation doses from core layers (as a major raw material of the sclerotium) ranged from 0.13 to 3.43 µSv kg -1 dw from 210 Po decay and from 0.11 to 1.52 µSv kg -1 dw from 210 Pb decay. Corresponding values for shell ranged from 0.80 to 42.4 for 210 Po and from 0.53 to 13.6 µSv kg -1 dw for 210 Pb. In general, the intake of W. cocos sclerotia varies between consumers, but this would not significantly change the effective radiation doses from 210 Po and 210 Pb isotopes. The consumption thus appears to be safe from a radiological protection point of view.