RESEARCH ARTICLE Contamination level, distribution and health risk assessment of heavy and toxic metallic and metalloid elements in a cultivated mushroom Pleurotus florida (Mont.) singer Rouhollah Khani 1 & Maryam Moudi 2 & Vahid Khojeh 3 Received: 29 August 2016 /Accepted: 7 December 2016 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract There are great concentrations of toxic metallic and metalloid elements such as lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium or silver in many species of mushrooms comparative to other fruits and vegetables. In this study, contamination with heavy and toxic metallic and metalloid elements in the cultivated mushroom of (Pleurotus florida (Mont.) Singer) is investigat- ed. P. florida was cultivated on different substrates; wheat straw (as blank), wheat straw + pine cone, wheat straw + soybean straw and wheat straw + urea and the effects of these substrates on contamination levels of Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb were analyzed. The results showed that the concentra- tions of essential elements (Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn) in the target mushroom are at the typical levels. The estimated daily in- takes of studied metallic and metalloid elements were below their oral reference dosage mentioned by the international reg- ulatory bodies. Health risk index (HRI) was calculated to eval- uate the consumer’ s health risk assessment from the metal intake that contaminated in the cultivated mushroom of P. florida on the different nutrient sources. In this study, the individual HRIs were less than 1, which indicates insignificant potential health risk associated with the consumption of target mushroom from the studied substrates. Based on the HRIs values among the toxic metallic and metalloid elements, As in the target mushroom in the substrate of the wheat straw + pine cone is the main sources of risk, and it may cause severe health problems. Thus, this study suggests that the concentra- tions of heavy and toxic elements should be periodically mon- itored in cultivated mushrooms. Keywords Heavy metal content . Cultivated mushroom . Toxic metals . Health risk assessment . Food safety Introduction One of the major public health concern is the presence of heavy metals in soil, air, water, and living objects because of rapid industrialization and urbanization in the developing countries (Granero and Domingo 2002; Govil et al. 2008; Huang et al. 2007; Li et al. 2008). Although some heavy metals such as Fe, Co, Mn, Zn as bio-metals are common constituents of mushroom flesh and are required in trace amounts by living organisms, but some other metallic and metalloid elements such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), silver (Ag), and arsenic (As), which can be well bio- concentrated from soil and other substrate by many mush- rooms collected in the wild and from a farm (Jarzyńska et al. 2012; Saba et al. 2016a, b; Falandysz and Rizal 2016; Jarzyńska and Falandysz 2012) are considered to be harmful. Cadmium is toxic to cardiovascular, kidneys and bones. Lead and mercury decrease the intelligence quotients (IQ) in chil- dren due to the pathological changes of organs and damnification of the central nervous system. Arsenic can af- fect human health and there is a strong association between arsenic exposure and increased risks of both carcinogenic and systemic health effects. Arsenic exposure affects almost all organ systems including the cardiovascular, dermatologic, nervous, hepatobilliary, renal, gastro-intestinal, and Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues * Rouhollah Khani Rouhollah.khani@birjand.ac.ir 1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Birjand, Birjand 97179-414, Iran 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Birjand, Birjand 97179-414, Iran 3 Zarazma Minerals Studies Company, Tehran, Iran Environ Sci Pollut Res DOI 10.1007/s11356-016-8222-8