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= Fungi to Clean Issues caused by the Fashion Industry = The Fashion industry is one of the biggest causes of pollution, as it mass produces 100 billion clothes a year. Corporations have one goal; to maximize profit. Such mentality has led to a search for cheaper forms of labor all around the world, commonly bangladesh and china, not only that but have also moved from natural fibers to synthetic.Supply and demand has increased since the 1950s till present day, the production of Polyurethane alone has increased over 300 Mtonne. Over 60% of the clothes currently produced are of Synthetic material, these fibers are non-organic, man-made fibers that damage the environment, these fibers consist of popular fabrics such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, rayon, spandex and many more. Plastic fibers mimic natural fibers but leave an extremely negative impact, they pollute local water sources, they expose workers to toxic chemicals that harm their health, they do not biodegrade and remain in the earth for hundreds of years contributing towards greenhouse gasses.

Aspergillus tubingensis in particular is a strain that is currently being studied to biodegrade plastics. Aspergillus tubingensis is the most recent strain from the aspergillus genus that was found to break down polyurethane, this fungi can possibly not only help with dissolving hard surface plastics but damages brought up due to the fashion industry. Polyester is in the same branch as polyurethane which means that Aspergillus tubingensis can also degrade synthetic clothing that would normally take hundreds of years. The fungus secretes enzymes that break down the plastic’s chemical bond and uses its mycelia to break apart the plastic further. Mycelia are filaments of fungi that grow much like plant roots. In the article researchers tested this strain and proved its effectiveness in degrading polyurethane through different methods and were able to confirm that it is capable of degrading.