How Mushrooms Can Be Used To Make Particle Board Less Toxic (BusinessWeek)

Within five years, your home could be built out of mushroom-based, wood-like composites. 

Think much about particle board? You should. It’s in everything from the chairs we sit on to the houses we live in.

Problem is, the close cousin of plywood is usually made using urea formaldehyde to help bind the wood particles together. The substance has been classified as a known human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

One company, Ecovative Design in upstate New York, has figured out how to replace urea formaldehyde with with an unlikely alternative: mushrooms. Not whole mushrooms like you'd find on a pizza, but the root structure of mushrooms, called mycelium. Mycelium does as good a job as any binding wood particles, but will break down into harmless organic matter when disposed.

For now, Ecovative is using mycelium in particle board and packaging materials, but it's possible that mushroom tech could find its way into other materials used in construction, healthcare and other industries.

That’s food for thought.