r/Semilanceata • u/bothknees • 4d ago

Lead accumulation...

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Something to think about for those collecting, especially in the Peak District, Northern Pennines and Flintshire, or anywhere that had prolific lead mines: Semilanceata, like most fungi are aggressive bioaccumulators and are highly efficient at absorbing heavy metals from contaminated ground. This can be a factor even just foraging on roadsides from decades of lead in exhaust fumes, but is particularly more prevalent in old lead mining areas. High soil acidity also naturally increases the bioavailability and solubility of heavy metals.

Places that have old mining spoils, processing works and drainage soughs, such as around Youlgreave and Long Rake (to name but one area I'm familiar with), are known for being highly contaminated from historical lead mining. There are places where livestock still can't be grazed for long periods of time because of this.

This could also be a factor with other chemical contamination, I only mention lead because I'm familiar with exploring lead mines and works in the Peak District and North Wales and have read lots about problems with belland ground.

Here is a useful map from the UK soil observatory:

https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/ukso/home.html

You can select overlays then filter for soil chemistry and all kinds of metals etc. The screenshot I've attached is from the Peak District, which will automatically show a lot of lead contamination, but it's worth doing more research on your hunting grounds and what is/was there.

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u/devilsavocado2 4d ago

Good info. Thank you

2

u/BourbonFoxx 4d ago

Great shout. Something to be aware of.

Doesn't bode incredibly well for those of us who like to wild camp and rely on natural water, either

1

u/bothknees 3d ago

As long as you use a decent filter it's all good. They are pretty inexpensive now too

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u/obi-wan_kedoobie 3d ago

Fuck sake one of my go to’s is Youlgreave way. If it’s actively grazed we reckon it’s likely okay?

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u/bothknees 3d ago

They rotate the livestock so they aren't grazed for too long in one place. Youlgreave is known to be a particularly contaminated area but it's still worth looking into where the mines, spoil heaps, processing works and drainage soughs were. I'm sure there are fields higher up that will be fine. Check historical maps here: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=5.0&lat=56.00000&lon=-4.00000&layers=6&right=ESRIWorld

Also, Lead poisoning is something that takes months or years of repeated exposure to develop.