Eighteen years after Chernobyl, Finns should still be wary of mushrooms

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2004

HELSINKI (AFP) — Finns, who on average consume nearly 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds) of wild mushrooms a year, should continue to take precautions when eating some types of fungi due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 18 years ago, officials warned.

In April 1986 a nuclear reactor at Ukraine's Chernobyl power plant exploded and spewed equivalent radiation of over 200 Hiroshima bombs into the air, contaminating large parts of Europe, including southwestern Finland.

"There are no mushrooms that people should not eat, but we emphasize that in some regions, making up just 20 percent of our total land area, people should still take some precautions when eating certain types," Aino Rantavaara, a researcher with the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, told AFP.

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