A marine mushroom that actively decomposes plastic

In the course of research, scientists from the Institute of Oceanology at the Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China found that the sea mushroom decomposes almost any plastic by 95% in four months, and such types of plastic as polyester and polyurethane – in just two weeks. The team of scientists was able to improve the cultivation conditions of this type of fungus and increase its destructive effect on a wide range of plastics other than polyethylene. But what is more important in their discovery is that the vital processes of this representative of the kingdom of mushrooms are absolutely safe and do not harm the environment.

The current situation with the pollution of the world ocean with plastic waste is as follows: about 13 million tons of plastic are thrown into it every year. Scientists' forecasts are disappointing: with the current dynamics of emissions by 2050, the total weight of plastic waste in the ocean will exceed the weight of all ocean fish combined. Data on the detection of microplastics in the blood of 80% of people from a random sample of patients have already been recorded. This tells us that plastic emissions into the world's oceans affect not only its inhabitants. Scientists do not exclude the possibility of microplastic particles even getting into the human brain.

The idea to use mushrooms in the fight against plastic appeared a long time ago. In 2017, an unexpected, but at the same time unique find was made at one of the landfills of Pakistan: a fungus was discovered that feeds on plastic, decomposing it. Of course, there is still no talk about the mass use of the "mushroom shield", all research takes time. However, scientists find this way of dealing with the "plastic catastrophe" very promising and quite possible, provided that plastic consumption is reduced, disposable accessories are abandoned in hotels, disposable containers for food delivery, and, of course, plastic is reduced in the daily life of each of us.

A source:
RIA News

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