Trace element and toxic metal intake from the consumption of canned mushrooms marketed in Spain Carmen Rubio & Cristian Martínez & Soraya Paz & Angel J. Gutiérrez & Dailos González-Weller & Consuelo Revert & Antonio Burgos & Arturo Hardisson Received: 20 September 2017 /Accepted: 9 March 2018 # Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Mushrooms are a valuable foodstuff because they are an important source of fiber and essential amino acids, but they have a great capacity to capture metals from substrate. Due to this reason, the content of 14 metals (B, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mo, Ni, Sr, V, Zn, Al, Cd, Pb) of 100 samples of canned mushrooms grown in Spain were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Fe (9.55 mg/kg) was the most notable trace element, followed by Zn (2.39 mg/kg). The most abundant toxic metal was Al (17.80 mg/kg). Significant statistical differences be- tween the absorption of metals have been observed when comparing species. Lentinula edodes and Lactarius deliciosus are the species which had the highest metal contents. Taking the average consumption 300 g per day for adults into account, the exposure to trace toxic metals from the consumption of the studied mushrooms does not pose a health risk. However, con- tribution percentages of Pb (87.6%) and Al (59.2%) found in Lentinula edodes and Pholiota nameko sam- ples, respectively, are near the maximum intake. Keywords Metals . Agaricus bisporus . Lactarius deliciosus . Lentinus edodes . Pholiota nameko . Pleurotus ostreatus Introduction Mushrooms are a very versatile food with nutritional properties that make them stand out from other vegeta- bles. Thus, their content in riboflavin (vitamin B2) and minerals such as selenium, potassium, and copper is higher than the rest. Their high fiber and water contents are also noteworthy that make them an ally in anti- obesity therapies and in weight maintenance and control in general (Cheskin et al. 2008; Nharingo et al. 2015). Thanks to their composition, mushrooms are considered a functional food in much of Europe and America because of their high content of polyphenolic com- pounds and others have been proven Bin vivo^ to pos- sess antioxidant properties (Dubost et al. 2007; Kang et al. 2012). Mushroom production has increased in recent years (USDA 2003). Mushroom consumption has also in- creased because of their health benefits and nutritional composition, their low price, especially of canned Environ Monit Assess (2018) 190:237 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-6614-6 C. Rubio : C. Martínez : S. Paz : A. J. Gutiérrez (*) : D. González-Weller : A. Hardisson Department of Toxicology, School of Medicine, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain e-mail: ajguti@ull.es D. González-Weller Central Laboratory, Canarian Public Health Service, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain C. Revert Departmentof Physical Medicine and Pharmacology, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain A. Burgos Department of Medicine Preventive and Public Health, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain