Maltz explains that some species of mushrooms can also hyperaccumulate metals or make the compounds less bioavailable, or able to enter the food web. Therefore, the right mushroom in the right context can help simplify cleanup efforts. This project explores a way to reduce the hazardous waste burden and ideally treat the soil in place and eliminate the need to dig up the contaminated soil and dump it at a hazardous waste facility. They are also investigating how these two species of mushrooms accumulate lead. “If the heavy metals are extracted by the mushrooms and are in the fruit body of the mushroom, that mushroom then becomes hazardous waste,” says Goyes.