Microbiology and biodegradation of resin acids in pulp mill effluents: a minireview

Resin acids, a group of diterpenoid carboxylic acids present mainly in softwood species, are present in many pulp mill effluents and toxic to fish in recipient waters. They are considered to be readily biodegradable. However, their removal across biological treatment systems has been shown to vary. Recent studies indicate that natural resin acids and transformation products may accumulate in sediments and pose acute and chronic toxicity to fish. Several resin acid biotransformation compounds have also been shown to bioaccumulate and to be more resistant to biodegradation than the original material. Until recently, the microbiology of resin-acid degradation has received only scant attention. Although wood-inhabiting fungi have been shown to decrease the level of resin present in wood, there is no conclusive evidence that fungi can completely degrade these compounds. In contrast, a number of bacterial isolates have recently been described which are able to utilize dehydroabietic or isopimaric acids as their sole carbon source. There appears to be an unusually high degree of substrate specificity with respect of the utilization of abietane congeners and the presence of substituents. Pimaranes do not appear to be attacked to the same extent as the abietanes. This paper reviews the occurrence, chemistry, toxicity, and biodegradation of resin acids in relation to the biological treatment of pulp and paper mill effluents.