Is mycoremediation effective on a residential level?
Presentation Type
Abstract
Faculty Advisor
Greg Pope
Access Type
Event
Start Date
25-4-2025 9:00 AM
End Date
25-4-2025 9:59 AM
Description
For my project I wanted to test the effectiveness of mycoremediation at a residential level. To give some background information, mycoremediation is when fungi is used to remediate contaminants in soil or water by absorbing and dissolving it. I recognize that a common issue in the household is that we carry many contaminating products for our daily use, and sometimes it’s difficult to dispose of these products without harming the environment. Therefore, for this experiment I wanted to cultivate fungi and see if it can absorb the contaminants from a small pot of soil, because I’ve only ever heard of this process being used on a large scale, over large contaminated land areas or oil spills. To test this I soaked one pot of soil with liquid copper and one with regular water and then I placed growing fungi over them. After a week of the fungi being placed in the soil pots, we can test for contaminants in the soil, if the soil comes up with contaminants then it proves that the absorption was not successful, if the soil comes up with no contaminants then it proves the mycoremediation was effective. At the end of this experiment I would like to know if people could have an effective form of waste disposal in their home.
Is mycoremediation effective on a residential level?
For my project I wanted to test the effectiveness of mycoremediation at a residential level. To give some background information, mycoremediation is when fungi is used to remediate contaminants in soil or water by absorbing and dissolving it. I recognize that a common issue in the household is that we carry many contaminating products for our daily use, and sometimes it’s difficult to dispose of these products without harming the environment. Therefore, for this experiment I wanted to cultivate fungi and see if it can absorb the contaminants from a small pot of soil, because I’ve only ever heard of this process being used on a large scale, over large contaminated land areas or oil spills. To test this I soaked one pot of soil with liquid copper and one with regular water and then I placed growing fungi over them. After a week of the fungi being placed in the soil pots, we can test for contaminants in the soil, if the soil comes up with contaminants then it proves that the absorption was not successful, if the soil comes up with no contaminants then it proves the mycoremediation was effective. At the end of this experiment I would like to know if people could have an effective form of waste disposal in their home.
Comments
Poster presentation at the 2025 Student Research Symposium.