DETERMINATION BY ICP/MS OF TRACE METAL CONTENT IN TEN EDIBLE WILD

The determination of nineteen trace metal levels (Li, Be, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Hg and Pb) was performed for ten naturally growing edible mushroom species in three different provinces of Turkey. The possibility of using the mushrooms as a bio-indicator of enviromnental pollution was investigated. Trace metal contents were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), after wet digestion procedure. The highest amounts of Li, Al, V, Fe and Se were found in C. cornucopioides (0.41, 285.92, 0.595, 300.87 and 0.780 mu g g(-1), respectively), the highest amounts of Co, Ni, Cu, Sb and Hg were found in H. lacunosa (1.736, 1.687, 13.22, 0.452 and 0.402 mu g g(-1), respectively), the highest amounts of Cr and Zn were found in S. squamosus (0.700 and 29.16 mu g g(-1), respectively), the highest amounts of Te and Pb were found in T anatolicum (0.007 and 1.102 mu g g(-1), respectively), the highest amounts of Be were found in M costata (0.018 mu g g(-1)), and the highest levels of Mn were found in R. roseolus (8.49 mu g g(-1)). The Pb, Cd, Cr, As, Ni, Sn and Hg contents determined in the edible mushrooms which we analysed were lower than the observed values in literature. Also, available data indicate that the mushroom collection area was not polluted by toxic heavy metals. These data are important in the fields of toxicology, food chemistry and environmental protection