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Mycoremediation
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{ Introduction }
Mycoremediation (from ancient Greek μύκης (mukēs), meaning „fungus“ and the suffix -remedium,
in Latin meaning ‚restoring balance‘) is a form of bioremediation in which fungi-based
technology is used to decontaminate the environment. Fungi have been proven
to be a very cheap, effective and environmentally sound way for helping to remove a
wide array of toxins from damaged environments or wastewater. The toxins include heavy
metals, persistent organic pollutants, textile dyes, leather tanning industry chemicals
and wastewater, petroleum fuels, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, pharmaceuticals
and personal care products, pesticides and herbicide, in land, sweet water and marine
environments. The byproducts of the remediation can be valuable material themself,
such as enzymes (like laccase), edible or medicinal mushrooms, making the remediation
process even profitable.still a lot of
{ Pollutants }
Fungi, thanks to their non-specific enzymes, are able to break down many kinds of substances.
They are used for pharmaceuticals and fragrances that normally are recalcitant
to bacteria degradation, such as paracetamol, the breakdown products of which are toxic
in traditional water treatment, using Mucor hiemalis, but also the phenols and pigments
of wine distillery wastewater, X-ray contrast agents and ingredients of personal care
products
Mycoremediation is one of the cheaper solutions to remediation, and it doesn‘t usually require
expensive equipment. For this reasons it is often used also in small scale applications,
such as mycofiltration of domestic wastewater, and to help with the decomposition
process of a compost toilet.
{ Metals }
Pollution from metals is very common, as they are used in many industrial processes such
as electroplating, paint and leather. The wastewater from this industries is often used for
agricultural purposes, so beside the immediate damage to the ecosystem it is spilled into,
the metals can enter far away creatures and humans through the foodchain. Mycoremediation
is one of the cheapest, most effective and environmental-friendly solutions to
this problem.Many fungi are hyperaccumulators, that means they are able to concentrate
toxins in their fruiting bodies for later removal. This is usually true for populations that
have been exposed to contaminants for long time, and have developed a high tolerance,
and happens via biosorption on the cellular surface, which means that the metals enter
the mycelium in a passive way with very little intracellular uptake. A variety of fungi,