Can Fungi help clean up the Gulf Oil Disaster?
The photo above shows oil being absorbed by mushroom mycelium.
This from Paul Stamets and the Fungi Perfecti Team
1) Straw colonized with Oyster mushroom mycelium floats, making MycoBooms potentially suitable for both oil absorbtion/remediation and for corraling and containing oil slicks.
2) Mycelium and straw both absorb oil.
3) Oyster mushroom mycelium emits enzymes that can break down oil continuously for weeks, if not months, thus starting the decomposition of oil process, reducing the complex hydrocarbons into simpler, more unstable forms.
4) Oyster mushroom mycelium supports non-pathogenic bacterial communities as they age, which in turn can break down oil in their own way.
5) MycoBooms in hemp socks are fully biodegradable.
6)
