In this paper, activity concentrations of radiocesium in mushrooms from various locations in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in the years 2000-2004 are presented. Summary reports of Czech regulatory bodies have judged the average activity concentrations in mushrooms to be remarkably below the maximum permissible level of contamination. However, there are certain regions where radiocesium activities have approached the maximum permissible level for contamination of basic foodstuff. For example, the highest activity concentration of (137)Cs measured by gamma-spectrometry was 2,263 Bq kg(-1) (on a dry mass basis), in Xerocomus badius from Staré Ransko (a locality in the Czech-Moravian Highlands, Czech Republic). The highest activity concentration of (137)Cs measured in Slovakia was 966 Bq kg(-1) (on a dry mass basis), for Suillus luteus from Senica. For comparison, the corresponding activity concentration in a sample taken within the 30 km zone around Chernobyl was measured to be 6,000 Bq kg(-1) (on a dry mass basis). Our results have also demonstrated remarkably lower activity concentrations of (137)Cs in Slovakia compared to those in the Czech Republic.

Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences Palackého 1 3 612 42 Brno Czech Republic

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