Mycoremediation

These contaminants include heavy metals, organic pollutants, textile dyes, leather tanning chemicals and wastewater, petroleum fuels, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, pesticides and herbicides[2] in land, fresh water, and marine environments.

Fungi, thanks to their non-specific enzymes, are able to break down many kinds of substances including pharmaceuticals and fragrances that are normally recalcitrant to bacteria degradation,[5] such as paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen).

Soils soaked with creosote contain high concentrations of PAH and in order to stop the spread, mycoremediation has proven to be the most successful strategy.

[14] A variety of fungi, such as Pleurotus, Aspergillus, Trichoderma has proven to be effective in the removal of lead,[15][16] cadmium,[16] nickel,[17][16] chromium,[16] mercury,[18] arsenic,[19] copper,[15][20] boron,[21] iron and zinc[22] in marine environments, wastewater and on land.

For example, the shaggy ink cap (Coprinus comatus), a common edible mushroom found in the Northern Hemisphere, can be a very good bioindicator of mercury.

For example, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland reported an 80% recovery of gold from electronic waste using mycofiltration techniques.

Wood-decay fungi, especially white rot, secrete extracellular enzymes and acids that break down lignin and cellulose, the two main building blocks of plant fiber.

Examples includes the insecticide endosulfan,[39] imazalil, thiophanate methyl, ortho-phenylphenol, diphenylamine, chlorpyrifos[40] in wastewater, and atrazine in clay-loamy soils.

The mycelium's quick expansion can also greatly extend the rhizosphere influence zone (hyphosphere), providing the plant with access to more nutrients and contaminants.

[52] In wetlands AMF greatly promote the biodegradation of organic pollutants like benzene-, methyl tert-butyl ether- and ammonia from groundwater when inoculated into Phragmites australis.

[67] Fungi such as Rhodotorula taiwanensis can possibly be used in the bioremediation of radioactive waste due to their low pH and radiation resistant properties.

[68][10] In fact, cell walls of some species of dead fungi can be used as a filter that can adsorb heavy metals and radionuclides present in industrial effluents, preventing them from being released into the environment.

This process consists of using fungal spores coated with agarose in a pellet form, which is introduced to a substrate in the burnt forest, breaking down toxins and stimulating growth.