Mycoremediation of Toxicants from Chosen Sites in the Philippine Setting

Local soils were continuously tainted by toxicants. Mycoremediation was a new technology for the reduction of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons. In general, this study aimed to determine whether the local mushrooms, namely, Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Singer, Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) Imbach and Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm., can take up the toxicants present in the soil from chosen sites. Specifically, this study aimed to correlate if the inherent varying conditions, namely, temperature, pH, and moisture of the soil affect the concentration of toxicants in the chosen sites. It also aimed to determine which soil-polluted site has the highest concentration of environmental pollutants and determine which Philippine mushroom is a better agent for the removal of environmental contaminants/pollutants. Heavy metals, namely, cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn), were among the trace elements commonly used by vast industries that mainly contribute to environmental pollution. Philippine mushrooms, namely, Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Singer, Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) Imbach, and Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm., were selected in this study due to cost-effectiveness and ease in native cultivation. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Column Chromatography were used for economical determination of toxicants. The main result of the study revealed that Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. had almost comparable chelating strength to EDTA. Two-way ANOVA with interaction showed that there was a significant difference between variation in local mushrooms at different strengths and their interaction with varying concentrations of soil samples. Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. showed to the best biosorbent in both active and passive biosorption mechanisms.