Serious toxic mushroom exposures are on the rise across Ohio, including Portage County, the Portage County Health District said earlier this week.
Many of these exposures involve backyard foraging for mushrooms. Cases associated with liver injury have been tentatively identified as exposure to Amanita bisporigera, also known as Destroying Angel, a type of poisonous mushroom found in eastern North America from July to October.
Local mycologist Don King says the uptick in toxic mushroom exposures is not surprising.
“This seems to happen almost every year,” he said, “most often with Asian and European immigrants who are used to seeing similar, edible mushrooms in their region and where Destroying Angels don’t occur, so they’re usually not familiar with the mushroom or its toxicity.”
According to The Ohio State University Extension, there are more than 200 types of mushrooms that can be found in Ohio, some poisonous and some edible. Edible and poisonous mushrooms can be similar in appearance, and there is no test or characteristic to distinguish an edible mushroom from one that is poisonous.
Therefore, inadvertently eating a poisonous mushroom can be fatal.
“In my understanding, the lethal dose is based on both the concentration of amatoxins in the mushroom, which may not vary too much, and the weight of the person who consumes it,” King said. “One mushroom would be considered a lethal dose. Luckily, there are ways to mitigate a lethal dose in healthy people, especially if it’s caught in time. In extreme cases, a liver transplant is necessary.
“The good news is that no mushrooms are toxic to touch. The toxins in mushrooms need to enter the bloodstream through the digestive tract, so they would need to be ingested to do harm.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is critical that people make sure mushrooms are not poisonous before eating them. However, since it’s difficult to distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms, the CDC says people should not eat wild mushrooms unless an expert identifies them as safe.
“My advice for people who think they may have these growing in their yard is to carefully excavate the entire mushroom and its base, and discard it in the trash or compost,” King said. “Don’t leave any pieces behind, which may be attractive to curious kids or pets. The toxins will break down in the composting process, so don’t worry if you’ll later use that compost in a garden.”
Go here to watch King’s video that explains how to properly identify Destroying Angels (Amanita bisporigera). Information on wild mushrooms can be found on the OSU Extension website.
Call the Poison Help Line at 800-222-1222 with questions and reports of wild mushroom exposures.
Tom Hardesty is a Portager sports columnist. He was formerly assistant sports editor at the Record-Courier and author of the book Glimpses of Heaven.