Radiocaesium Accumulation in Wild Mushrooms from Low-level Contaminated Area Due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident—A Case Study in the University of Tokyo Forests—

Abstract

Radiocaesium levels were determined in wild mushrooms collected from low-level contaminated forest area in east Japan about 6 months after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Relatively high levels of radionuclides contamination of wild mushrooms and forest litter occurred along the radioactive plumes path. Usually, radioactivity levels in mushrooms did not exceed those of neighboring forest litter. It was found that the residual ¹³⁷Cs radioactivity, due to nuclear weapons test or the Chernobyl accident, still remained in soil and collected by mushrooms.