KUNMING, CHINA/PAKISTAN — A new study published in the journal Environmental Pollution discusses a fungus that breaks down plastic materials. <br /> <br />A group of researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany in China found aspergillus [h]tubingensis[i], a common soil fungus, at a dump in Pakistan. Under laboratory conditions it was shown to break down plastic in weeks, not years. <br /> <br />The fungus used its roots to break apart the plastic, but its effectiveness was found to be influenced by other factors such as temperature and pH levels. <br /> <br />Aspergillus tubingensis was previously found in patients with lung conditions such as cystic fibrosis, according to a 2016 study in the journal Medical Mycology.
