University of Missouri professor Susie Dai has begun a three-year study researching how to use fungi to filter forever chemicals out of water. Dai is a professor in the department of chemical and biomedical engineering and has been researching how lignin, a polymer found in cell walls, and Irpex lacteus, a wood-rotting fungus, could remove polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, out of water.

Forever chemicals are in water, air, fish and soil across the world, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. While the extent of forever chemicals impact on human health isn’t fully known, scientists know they could lead to cancer or immune deficiencies.

“This is a group of very interesting, very diverse organic compounds that human beings have been able to synthesize for the last

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