title: Assessment of the chemical, microbiological and toxicological aspects of post-processing water from underground coal gasification.
abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive characterisation (including chemical, microbiological and toxicological parameters) of water after the underground coal gasification (UCG) process. This is the first report in which these parameters were analysed together to assess the environmental risk of the water generated during the simulation of the underground coal gasification (UCG) process performed by the Central Mining Institute (Poland). Chemical analysis of the water indicated many hazardous chemical compounds, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, phenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Additionally, large quantities of inorganic compounds from the coal and ashes produced during the volatilisation process were noted. Due to the presence of refractory and inhibitory compounds in the post-processing water samples, the microbiological and toxicological analyses revealed the high toxicity of the UCG post-processing water. Among the tested microorganisms, mesophilic, thermophilic, psychrophilic, spore-forming, anaerobic and S-oxidizing bacteria were identified. However, the number of detected microorganisms was very low. The psychrophilic bacteria dominated among tested bacteria. There were no fungi or Actinomycetes in any of the water samples. Preliminary study revealed that hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria were metabolically active in the water samples. The samples were very toxic to the biotests, with the TU50 reaching 262. None of biotests was the most sensitive to all samples. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity testing of the water samples in Vicia uncovered strong cytotoxic and clastogenic effects. Furthermore, TUNEL indicated that all of the water samples caused sporadic DNA fragmentation in the nuclei of the roots.
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Saving and Air Protection, Główny Instytut Górnictwa (Central Mining Institute), Plac Gwarków 1, 40-166 Katowice, Poland. Electronic address: mpankiewicz@gig.eu.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pankiewicz-Sperka
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Saving and Air Protection, Główny Instytut Górnictwa (Central Mining Institute), Plac Gwarków 1, 40-166 Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stańczyk
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, 6 Kossutha, 40-844 Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Grażyna A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Płaza
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Anatomy and Cytology, University of Silesia, 28 Jagiellońska, 40-032 Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kwaśniewska
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nałęcz-Jawecki
mesh_terms: D003032:Coal Mining; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis*; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000032:analysis; D011044:Poland; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D031307:Vicia faba; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances; D009153:Mutagens; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Environmental risk; Post-processing water; Toxicological assays; Underground coal gasification (UCG)