The phenol-rich leachate from semi-coke mounds formed as a by-product of oil-shaleprocessing is discharged via channels and rivers Kohtla and Purtse into the Baltic Sea withoutany treatment. The leachate from processed oil shale contains several organic and inorganiccompounds (oil fractions, sulphides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). The impact ofleachate on microbiological characteristics of river water and sediment as well as onabundance, activity and structure of biodegradative consortia have been studied. Themetabolic and genetic diversity of phenol-utilizing bacteria was characterized. Pollutionmarkedly altered all aspects of the studied microbial diversity. The structure and functioningof the bacterial communities changed significantly along the river and revealed remarkableadaptation to phenolic compounds in environment. The results demonstrate multiplicity ofcatabolic types of degradation of phenol and p-cresol and the existence of characteristicassemblages of species and specific genotypes among the strains isolated from the pollutedriver water.
Sources, deposition flux and carcinogenic potential of PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea (Gdynia, Poland)
