The subject of the work was the removal of pharmaceuticals (diclofenac and amoxicillin) by integrated methods of advanced oxidation and membrane filtration. The advanced oxidation process was carried out using UV/H₂O₂. The filtration process was carried out using two polymer membranes: HL and NF270. The efficiency of concentration reduction and COD and TOC reduction of tested solutions during UV/H₂O₂ process, nanofiltration, and in integrated method using both processes were compared. It was found that the advanced oxidation process allows a slight reduction of such parameters as COD and TOC, despite the total disappearance of the tested compounds concentration. Toxicity studies have shown that the degradation products of diclofenac and amoxicillin are toxic. The nanofiltration process allowed to almost completely remove diclofenac and amoxicillin from the solution. The integration of both methods enabled both the chemical modification of the tested compounds as well as the removal of their toxic oxidation products from the solution.

In this paper presents results of acute toxicity of resistant to biodegradable compounds. The investigated compounds can be found in the aqueous environment. The experiments were conducted using Vibrio fischeri luminescent bacteria for eight compounds: phenol (pH-OH), chlorophenol (2-CP), dichlorophenol (2,4DCP), diclofenac (DCF), amoxicillin (AMX),ibuprofen (IBF), methylparaben (MeP), benzylparaben (BeP). Based on receive results defined whether chemical compound is toxic or not to Vibrio fischeri.

Sensitivity of proteins, including enzymes, to high temperatures means that traditional drying methods for biological products can not be used. The solution is a freeze-drying process (lyophilization), which, by using much lower temperatures, means that no changes are observed in the products obtained. The paper presents the results of the research concerning the lyophilization of the enzyme laccase, the conditions of the process and the stability of the obtained lyophilisates. The tested, variable parameters were process duration and the ratio of area to volume of the sample. In order to compare the effectiveness of the tested solutions, the parameters of recovery and loss of activity were determined. The experiments carried out confirmed that the lyophilization process itself does not cause significant enzyme inactivation. In most of the samples tested, laccase retained approximately 90% of its original activity. However, it was found that during storage of solid lyophilisates, the laccase activity drops to 68% within 11 weeks.

Aspergillus terreus is a filamentous fungus used in the production of lovastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug. This molecule is biosynthesized in the form of β-hydroxy acid, the so-called mevinolinic acid. The aim of the present work was to determine the effect of rapeseed oil concentration on the production of mevinolinic acid, (+)-geodin and asterric acid in submerged cultures. The quantitative analysis was performed with the use of liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry. The presence of rapeseed oil did not lead to the enhancement of mevinolinic acid production, but stimulated the biosynthesis of (+)-geodin and asterric acid. The inhibition of (+)-geodin production and the increased levels of mevinolinic acid were achieved in the medium lacking the source of chloride ions. However, this also led to the induction of asterric acid biosynthesis. A further increase in the concentration of this metabolite occurred as the result of rapeseed oil supplementation.

Filamentous fungi Monascus can produce various secondary metabolites with a polyketide structure, among them there are pigments used for food products. Based on previously conducted studies on the influence of selected cultivating factors on biomass growth and pigments biosynthesis of the filamentous fungus Monascus purpureus DSM 1379 using the “one factor in one time” test procedure, in this study the area response method (RSM) to determine the optimal values of selected substrates is presented. On this basis, the values of glucose and monosodium glutamate were determined to obtain the maximum amounts of pigments which was identified by the measurement of absorbance at 400 nm – yellow pigment and 480 nm – red pigment.

The aim of this work is to assess the effectiveness of the process of removing from the wastewater two commonly occurring in the aquatic environment anthropogenic micro-pollutants, i.e. sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and diclofenac (DCF) using constructed wetlands combined with solar light induced processes (assisted by TiO ). The research has shown that the removal of these compounds in the constructed wetlands is an effective process, however, it is not possible to completely remove the tested compounds from wastewater. In addition, it has been shown that plants occurring in constructed wetlands have a positive impact on the processes efficiency. The combination of constructed wetland with solar-light induced processes allows for complete elimination of DCF from wastewater and over 90% removal of SMX. In the work, an attempt of the identification of the main transformation products of the tested compounds was performed. It was observed that the main transformations of the studied substances are hydroxylation and methylation, which can occur simultaneously in constructed wetlands.

The paper analyzes the possibility of using foam fractionation to concentrate and purify phycobiliprotein from Synechococcus PCC6715 biomass. The efficiency assessment was made by calculating the efficiency of the process in terms of recovering of phycocyanine and its content in the individual stages of the process. The crude extract was obtained by biomass extractions with PBS buffer using alternate defrosting and thawing cycles. The extract did not require the addition of the surfactants because it showed the ability to form stable foam. The tested method, however, is not characterized by high selectivity, because together with phycobiliproteins other proteins and compounds (e.g. carbohydrates) migrated to the foam fraction.

The paper contains primary results of the wider investigations leading to development of the bioremediation technology of soil and buildings debris from the industrial areas contaminated by toxic mercury. The aims of the experiments were ascertainment of the P. chrysosporium resistance to Hg(II) contained in the base material and selection of the optimum „inoculum” solid medium for the growth of the fungus in the industrial scale. The seven different variants of solid laboratory media were checked and as the best the synthetic Čapek medium with the addition of yeasts as a source of the B-vitamins were found. The maximum Hg²⁺ concentration tolerated by fungus growing on this medium was 350 mg Hg²⁺ × dm^-3. The further experiments with the model and the natural soil with different additions showed that the best growth of P. chrysosporium was obtained on the compost soil with the scraps of the Miscanthus giganteus. The results obtained in this work proved that P. chrysosporium has a great resistance to Hg2+ in the medium and may be considered as an organism for the bioremediation of the soil material contaminated with the toxic mercury compounds.