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THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE QUESTION

Real research.
Open questions.

Can fungi, plants, and root-zone systems help improve polluted water, air, and land? Explore the evidence behind the research I want to pursue, plus the questions still unanswered.

Selected by topic for Jordan Kristo’s proposed research initiative · Reviewed September 27, 2026

READ THE EVIDENCE IN CONTEXT

Promising does not
mean proven everywhere.

Mycoremediation investigates fungi as tools for addressing pollution. Breaking down an organic chemical, binding a metal, and changing a metal’s mineral form are different processes.

These are other researchers’ studies. They are not Mycopath results, project partnerships, or endorsements. This selected reading list is not a systematic review. Summaries draw on the linked papers and their published abstracts; they do not establish that any specific Ohio site is safe or treatable.

Read the mycoremediation studies
01

2025
LABORATORY STUDY

OYSTER FUNGI · CRUDE OIL

Growth is one question.
Changes in oil are another.

Crescent, Pisarski, Wirth & Long · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

What was studied: Researchers tested Pleurotus ostreatus growth under different salinities and nutrient conditions, and examined changes in fractions of Louisiana sweet crude oil in laboratory experiments.

What they found: The fungus tolerated a range of salinities. Nutrient additions supported growth, while fungal and nutrient treatments affected some measured oil fractions.

What this does not establish

These were controlled laboratory experiments. Fungal growth is not proof of complete oil removal, and the study does not demonstrate a successful cleanup of an Ohio site or a whole estuary.

Paper title & source

Mycoremediation of Louisiana sweet crude oil with Pleurotus ostreatus and nutrient amendments. DOI: 10.1093/etojnl/vgae078.

Read the paper in NOAA’s repository
02

2003
OUTDOOR SOIL TRIAL

OYSTER FUNGI · TAR-CONTAMINATED SOIL

Two soils.
Different outcomes.

Hestbjerg, Willumsen, Christensen, Andersen & Jacobsen · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

What was studied: Material from commercial oyster mushroom production was added to two contaminated Danish soils in replicated outdoor concrete cylinders, alongside control treatments.

What they found: Over nine weeks, some groups of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) decreased in the Ringe soil. The other soil showed no significant PAH degradation.

What this does not establish

A result in one soil does not transfer automatically to another. Soil history, contaminant availability, and the surrounding microbial community can affect the result. This was not a full-property cleanup.

Paper title & source

Bioaugmentation of tar-contaminated soils under field conditions using Pleurotus ostreatus refuse from commercial mushroom production. DOI: 10.1002/etc.5620220402.

Read the study record at GEUS
03

2001
SOIL MICROCOSMS

WHITE-ROT FUNGI · A RESULT THAT DID NOT DELIVER

Adding fungi is not
automatically the answer.

Canet and colleagues · Bioresource Technology

What was studied: Four white-rot fungi, alone and in combinations, were tested in small experimental systems containing non-sterile coal-tar-contaminated soil and straw.

What they found: The authors did not consider the introduction of the fungi successful in this experiment. PAH losses in biological control treatments also pointed to the role of native microorganisms.

Why this matters

A credible trial needs untreated and appropriate non-fungal comparisons. A decrease in contamination cannot simply be credited to added mushrooms when other processes may explain it.

Paper title & source

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by native microflora and combinations of white-rot fungi in a coal-tar contaminated soil. DOI: 10.1016/S0960-8524(00)00093-6.

Read the published study
04

2012
LABORATORY STUDY

LEAD · MINERAL TRANSFORMATION

Changing lead’s form
does not destroy lead.

Rhee, Hillier & Gadd · Current Biology

What was studied: The researchers examined how fungal activity could transform metallic lead.

What they found: Fungal activity produced chloropyromorphite, a comparatively stable lead-containing mineral. This supports research into biological mineral formation and metal immobilization.

What this does not establish

The lead remains present. Formation of a mineral in a laboratory is not evidence that land has met cleanup standards. Long-term stability, exposure, and site conditions still matter.

Paper title & source

Lead transformation to pyromorphite by fungi. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.12.017.

Read the published abstract on PubMed
05

2019
CONTROLLED SOLUTION STUDY

ASPERGILLUS NIGER · LEAD & PHOSPHATE

The conditions
change the chemistry.

Scientific Reports · Original research

What was studied: Researchers examined fungal breakdown of organic phosphate and lead immobilization under different acidity conditions.

What they found: Acidity changed phosphate release and the lead minerals that formed. Conditions around pH 5.5 favored chloropyromorphite formation in the reported experimental system.

What this does not establish

This controlled solution study is not a field demonstration. Real soils contain interacting contaminants and variable conditions. Immobilization remains different from eliminating a metal.

Paper title & source

Lead immobilization assisted by fungal decomposition of organophosphate under various pH values. Scientific Reports 9, 13353 (2019).

Read the full open-access article

WATER / PLANTS, ROOTS & MICROBES

Root systems can be part
of a designed treatment.

Rhizofiltration and phytoremediation

EPA describes plant-based processes that can capture contaminants from water or influence contaminated soil and groundwater. In rhizofiltration, roots can retain selected contaminants; harvesting and appropriate management of contaminated plant material may be required.

Limit: A plant does not remove every pollutant. Species, water chemistry, contaminant concentration, root contact, and treatment design matter. These processes do not automatically make water safe to drink.

EPA technical paper on phytoremediation ↗

Constructed treatment wetlands

Engineered wetlands combine vegetation, substrates, water flow, and microorganisms. Their treatment processes can include physical settling, microbial transformation, and plant-related nutrient uptake. Roots also provide surfaces and habitat for microbial activity.

Limit: The treatment comes from the designed system, not roots alone. Loading, retention time, maintenance, and the particular pollutants determine performance. Any discharge or reuse needs the relevant water-quality verification.

EPA’s constructed-wetland resources ↗

Read the constructed-wetlands handbook

These are government technical references and case-study resources, not Mycopath experiments. Plant selection would require qualified review; no specific “weed” is presented as a universal filter.

AIR / VEGETATION & EXPOSURE

Planting can help.
Placement can change the result.

EPA research describes roadside vegetation barriers as a possible way to reduce certain downwind pollution concentrations. Barrier height, thickness, density, gaps, wind, and surrounding structures affect how pollutants travel and where people are exposed.

Some configurations can increase local pollution concentrations by restricting air movement. A useful proposal therefore needs measurements and pollutant-specific evaluation, not an assumption that more plants always mean cleaner air.

What this means for the proposed research

Investigate particular particles or gases, select an appropriate site and design, and measure before and after. Vegetation would supplement source-emission controls; no broad claim is made that it eliminates fumes, gases, or all chemicals.

Read EPA’s vegetation-barrier guidance ↗

Research record: The effects of roadside vegetation characteristics on local, near-road air quality

WHY PREVENTION MATTERS / THE LONG VIEW

Environmental choices today.
Consequences across a lifetime.

These studies support taking pollution exposure seriously. They do not measure Mycopath’s impact or convert a year of research into a fixed number of healthy years.

Air quality and children’s lung development

Gauderman and colleagues followed lung function in 2,120 children across three Southern California cohorts. Lower nitrogen dioxide and particulate pollution were associated with better lung-function growth from ages 11 to 15.

Across the three periods, the proportion with clinically low FEV1 at age 15 fell from 7.9% to 6.3% to 3.6%. This observational study examined broad air-quality improvements, not plants or fungi as a treatment. It cannot predict Mycopath’s results.

Gauderman et al., NEJM (2015) ↗

Childhood exposure, adult outcomes

Mazumdar and colleagues tested 43 adults at ages 28–30 from a childhood lead-exposure cohort. Higher childhood blood lead was associated with lower adult IQ in some analyses.

The small sample and potential confounding limit interpretation; adjustment for maternal IQ changed statistical significance. This was an exposure follow-up, not a cleanup trial, and it did not show that removing pollution adds 30 years of health.

Mazumdar et al., Environmental Health (2011) ↗
How this informs the mission

Our aim is to investigate whether carefully selected nature-based methods can reduce specific exposures. That requires environmental measurements before claims about benefit. Early support can fund the team, formation, and research needed to begin.

FUTURE INTEREST / OUTSIDE THE CURRENT FUND

Health and regenerative biology.
Research interests, not treatments.

Jordan’s longer-term interests include mushroom- and plant-derived compounds, mental and physical health, and stem-cell science. These are separate from the current $44,000 environmental research budget.

Clinical research on mushroom compounds

Published trials have investigated psilocybin-assisted approaches for depression in supervised clinical settings. A small randomized trial reported reductions in depressive symptoms. In a separate comparison with escitalopram, the primary outcome did not show a statistically significant between-group difference at six weeks.

These findings concern specific study populations, protocols, and outcomes. They do not establish a cure for mental or physical damage, show that mushroom supplements rebalance the body, or justify self-treatment.

Davis et al., randomized trial, JAMA Psychiatry (2021) ↗Psilocybin versus escitalopram, NEJM (2021) ↗FDA guidance for clinical investigations (2026) ↗

Stem cells and regenerative research

NIH describes stem cells’ capacity for self-renewal and specialization, and the scientific work needed to turn that biology into reliable therapies. Safe growth, differentiation, integration, and delivery are distinct research challenges.

The sources listed here do not establish that mushrooms or plant alkaloids safely regrow stem cells or repair damage in people. Any future Mycopath work in this area would need a separate scientific rationale, qualified partners, funding, and applicable ethical and regulatory approvals.

Read NIH’s Stem Cell Basics ↗

THE WORK STILL AHEAD

The questions I want
funding to help answer.

  1. Which contaminant and research setting are realistic for an initial study?
  2. Which qualified experts and laboratories can help design and evaluate it?
  3. Does a proposed treatment outperform the relevant controls?
  4. Where do contaminants go, and how would remaining material be managed?
  5. Which methods have enough evidence to guide the nonprofit’s first projects?

REACH THE GOAL. FORM THE NONPROFIT. START THE RESEARCH.

Give the questions
a chance to be answered.

At $44,000, Jordan commits to establishing Mycopath Recovery as a nonprofit and starting environmental research with a founding team. The studies above inform the questions; the work ahead will determine the results.

Explore the research fund

PASS THE POSSIBILITY ON

Share a cleaner future.

Send the research, the plan, and ways to help.