Photolysis and biodegradation of selected resin acids in River Saale water, Germany

The River Saale is the Elbe's major tributary flowing through the state of Thuringia, Germany and receives organics inputs from several industrial facilities including pulp and paper mills. Resin acids constitute a major class of polar organics and environmental toxins derived primarily from pulp and paper processing of softwoods. Since wastewater treatment methods at pulp and paper mills are not always capable of removing the persistent resin acids prior to effluent discharge, alternative or complementary degradation methods may be required. Here, the facile photodegradation of four resin acids--abietic, dehydroabietic, isopimaric, and pimaric--was observed with pseudo-first-order kinetics when exposed to broad band and UV254-radiation. Further experimentation in rotating annular biofilm reactors with UV-exposed and unexposed River Saale water spiked with abietic and dehydroabietic acids indicated that photolysis is an effective pretreatment method for resin acid biodegradation. The bacterial toxicity of the aqueous resin acids solutions as measured with Microtox luminescence assays decreased with exposure time. Consequently, photo- and biodegradation of the resin acids did not generate any notable amounts of toxic intermediates and/or the intermediates formed were further degraded into compounds of lower toxicity than the parents. With tandem photo- and biological treatment at pulp and paper mills, as well as in-situ degradation by solar radiation and natural biofilms within the River Saale, resin acid inputs can be reduced in both concentration and toxicity to near undetectable levels with little or no ecological significance.