Consumption structure of forest mushrooms by residents of contaminated districts of the Bryansk region in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident

The article presents results of the study of consumption levels of different types of forest mushrooms by residents of the most contaminated south-western territories of the Bryansk region in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident. To collect and analyze the data, the method of face-to-face questionnaire survey of adult population was applied according to individual questionnaires developed by the staff of Federal Funded Institution of Science «Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev». In addition to general information, the questionnaires included questions about the species composition of the mushroom basket, the volume and proportion of consumption of each type of mushrooms by the respondent and his/her family members (both in the current and previous seasons). In the period from 2019 to 2022, within the framework of the “Program of joint activities of Russia and Belarus in the framework of the Union State for the protection of the population and rehabilitation of the territories affected by the Chernobyl NPP disaster”, the staff of the Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev conducted the questionnaire survey of the respondents. Based on the analysis of data from individual interviews with 1 756 adult respondents, the group (61% of respondents) that could potentially receive an additional contribution to internal dose from mushroom consumption was identified. According to the research, the average consumption of mushrooms by the local population (including those who excluded mushrooms from their diet) is 4,7 kg/year per person, while the average consumption of mushrooms by the group of respondents whose diet includes mushrooms is 7,9 kg/year per person. The structure of the mushroom diet for respondents who eat mushrooms is as follows: cep /boletus edulis (28%), chanterelles / cantharellus cibarius (19%), annulated boletus / suillus luteus (14%), orange-cup boletus / leccinium aurantiacum (11%), rough boletus / leccinium scabrum (10%), honey fungus / armilaria mellea (9%), whitish russula /russila delica and orange milkcap / lactarius deterrimus (5%), yellow knight / tricholoma equestre(3%), russules / russula (0,3%) and various rarely consumed mushrooms (oyster mushrooms, coral milkcaps, paxils, morels, stitches, bay bolete and champignons – 1%).

1. Radioecological consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident: biological effects, migration, rehabilitation of contaminated areas / Ed.: prof. NI Sanzharova, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and prof. SV Fesenko, Moscow: Russian Academy of Sciences; 2018. 278 p. (In Russian).

2. Data on radioactive contamination of the territory of settlements of the Russian Federation with cesium – 137, strontium – 90 and plutonium – 239 + 240 / Ed.: SM Vakulovsky, prepared by VN Yakhryushin. Obninsk: FGBU “NPO “Typhoon”; 2023. 228 p. (In Russian).

3. Bratilova AA, Bruk GYa. Influence of consumption of different foodstuffs on the internal exposure dose formation in the adult population of the Russian Federation after the accident at the Chernobyl NPP. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2018;11(2): 53-59. DOI: 10.21514/1998-426X-2018-11-2-53-59/ (In Russian).

4. Travnikova IG, Bruk GYa, Shutov VN, Bazyukin AB. Contributon of different foodstuffs tо the internal exposure of the rural inhabitants of the Bryansk region in Russia after the Chernobyl accident. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2013;6(2): 11-20. (In Russian).

5. Muratova NA, Davydova AN. Evaluation of the diets of the inhabitants of the Bryansk region for the period 1985-2005. Collection of scientific reports of the international seminar “Assessment of exposure doses of residents of the Bryansk region based on the measurement of the content of cesium-137 in the body of the irradiated population”, IBRAE RAN, November 16–17, 2006. Moscow. P. 32–39. (In Russian).

6. Travnikova IG. The dynamics of food rations of Bryansk region population living in the territories contaminated after the Chernobyl accident. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2014;7(3): 26-32. (In Russian).

7. Trapeznikova LN. Hygienic assessment of the actual nutrition of the population of the Bryansk region. Zdorov’e naseleniya i sreda obitaniya = Public Health and Habitat. 2009;6: 20-23. Available from: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/gigienicheskaya-otsenka-fakticheskogo-pitaniya-naseleniya-bryanskoy-oblasti [Accessed 17 Feb 2023]. (In Russian).

8. Romanovich IK, Bruk GYa, Barkovsky AN, Bratilova AA, Gromov AV, Kaduka MV. Substantiation of the concept of transfer to conditions of normal population activity of the settlements considered to be zones of radioactive contamination after the Chernobyl NPP accident. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2016;9(1): 6-18. (In Russian).

9. Kaduka MV, Basalaeva LN, Bekyasheva TA, Ivanov SA, Salazkina NV, Stupina VV, et al. Radioactive contamination of mushrooms in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident. Collection of materials int. scientific-practical. conf. “Radiation and hygienic consequences and lessons from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant”, St. Petersburg, April 22–23, 2021. St. Petersburg: FBUN im. P.V. Ramzaeva of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing; 2021. P. 111-115. (In Russian).

10. Zarubina NE, Trishin VV. Radionuclide contamination of higher fungi as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Collection of works int. conf. “Radioactivity after nuclear explosions and accidents”, Moscow December 5-6, 2005. Moscow; 2005. Vol. 3. P. 109-118. (In Russian).

11. Perevolotsky AN, Gavrilov AV, Bulavik IM. Radioecology. Gomel; 1998. 99 p. (In Russian).

12. Panov AV, Marochkina EV, Ponomarenko VV. On the role of mushrooms in the internal dose formation to the population in the Chernobyl NPP accident affected areas. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2014;7(1): 63-70. (In Russian).

13. Repin LV, Biblin AM, Vishnyakova NM, Sokolov NV, Davydov AA. Problems of risk communication: methodological approaches to the use of sociological data in planning of information work with the population on radiation safety issues. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2019;12(3): 50-57. DOI: 10.21514/1998-426X-2019-12-3-50-57/. (In Russian).

14. The program of joint activities of Russia and Belarus within the framework of the Union state for the protection of the population and rehabilitation of the territories affected by the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Available from: https://rusbelmeteo.ru/programs/chernobylunionprogram. [Accessed 20 Feb 2023]. (In Russian).

15. Romanovich IK, Bazyukin A.B, Barkovsky AN, Biblin AM, Bratilova AA, Bruk GYa, et al., Results of modern radiationhygienic surveys of settlements of Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation bordering the Republic of Belarus. Part 1: Characteristics of the settlements. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2023;16(3): 22-36. DOI: 10.21514/1998-426X-2023-16-3-22-36/. (In Russian).

16. Travnikova IG. Effectiveness of protective measures to reduce the internal dose of cesium radionuclides to residents of the radioactively contaminated zone: diss. ... cand. of biol. sciences: 14.00.07: protected 29.11.1990. Travnikova Irina Georgievna; Leningr. Research Institute of radiation hygiene. Leningrad; 1990. 176 p.