4.6

Mushrooms Cleaning: Removing Toxins and Restoring Environments

In the final step of fungi applications we focus on how fungi can be used for cleaning up everything from toxic chemicals, oil spills, heavy metals, waste water to radioactive sites.

Mycoremediation harnesses fungi to restore polluted ecosystems. The common Oyster mushroom breaks down heavy hydrocarbons found in oil spills, while Pestalotiopsis microspora can digest polyurethane plastic. In Chernobyl, radiotrophic fungi actually feed on ionizing radiation. Additionally, mycorrhizal networks effectively sequester heavy metals like lead and arsenic from industrial soils, showcasing fungi’s powerful ability to detoxify the planet’s most hazardous environments.

The video below highlights two applications of fungi: mycoremediation and green construction. Fungi are crucial decomposers, naturally breaking down nearly all organic waste and hazardous materials, like oil and radioactive elements. By rapidly growing mycelium on agricultural waste, they also create low-carbon, sustainable building materials, such as mycelium-based bricks.

Mycoremediation: Fungi Cleaning Up the Planet

Fungi are being deployed in real-world pilot programs for mycoremediation, a sustainable form of bioremediation. This utilizes the powerful, non-specific enzymes produced by fungi, especially White-Rot Fungi (like Oyster mushrooms), which naturally break down the complex polymer lignin, which is chemically similar to many toxic pollutants.

These enzymes are effective at cleaning several hazardous types of waste:

Hydrocarbon Degradation: Fungi degrade PAHs (toxic components of oil and diesel) in contaminated soil and water, used in projects tackling oil spills and historical extraction waste.
Heavy Metal Removal: Fungi use biosorption to bind and accumulate toxic heavy metals (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium) from industrial water and mining sites, allowing for safe collection and disposal of the concentrated waste.
Water Treatment: Mycelial filters are tested to remove pathogens (E. coli), industrial dyes, and pharmaceuticals from wastewater and agricultural runoff.

While highly promising and cost-effective, the main challenge remains scaling these successful lab and pilot studies, and developing practical applications.

Further reading, learning and references

Forbes – This Black Fungus Might Be Healing Chernobyl By Drinking Radiation—A Biologist Explains https://www.forbes.com/sites/scotttravers/2024/11/02/this-black-fungus-might-be-healing-chernobyl-by-drinking-radiation-a-biologist-explains/

Smithsonian magazine – Can Scientists Harness the Magic of Mushrooms to Clean Up Polluted Landscapes? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-scientists-harness-the-magic-of-mushrooms-to-clean-up-polluted-landscapes-180986561/

shroomer – Mycoremediation: Cleaning Up with Fungi That Eat Plastic https://www.shroomer.com/mycoremediation-plastic-eating-mushrooms/

Atmos – How Toxin-Munching Mushrooms Are Restoring Polluted Brownfields https://atmos.earth/climate-solutions/how-toxin-munching-mushrooms-are-restoring-polluted-brownfields/

© Daniel Mossberg, CEMUS, Uppsala University and Sonali Phadke, studio Alternatives and Stephanie Foote