| Contact: | 1111 Budapest, Gellért square 4.CH. II. 260 |
|---|---|
| Website: | link |
| Focal points and main thrusts of research: |
|
| Introduction: | The Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology
research group at BME has worked for more than 25 years in environmental risk
management associated topics, namely environmental risk assessment and
development of environmental risk mitigation technologies. The group members
have manifold experience in the quantitative environmental risk assessment of
chemical substances and in the development of ecotoxicity tests applicable to soil
and water. Another important research area of the group is the complex
environmental risk management of sites contaminated with metals and/or organic
substances and the development of new environmental-friendly remediation
technologies. The group has established the dynamically developing ENFO
Environmental Knowledge Base, the Database and the Decision Support Tool the
aim of which was making easily available for everyone the knowledge accumulated
during the years. This Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology
research group is the centre of environmental risk assessment and soil
remediation in Hungary. Its reference works, in collaboration with various
partners, include bioremediation (i.e. enhanced bioremediation with
cyclodextrin) of several hydrocarbon contaminated sites, environmental risk
assessment of the Gyöngyösoroszi sulphide ore mining site and development of a
combined chemical and phytoremediation technology, environmental risk
assessment of the Ajka red mud flood-affected area, development of
cyclodextrin-based water treatment technologies, development of soil
amelioration technologies with waste utilisation and development of landfill
cover systems utilising suitable wastes. The group has developed integrated
monitoring methodologies for environmental risk assessment, amongst which the
soil microbiological and ecotoxicity methods able to characterise the actual
risk of contaminants have gained special attention. The group has developed
various direct contact soil tests and water ecotoxicity tests applying several
sub-lethal endpoints with test organisms from several trophic levels, such as
bacteria (ex. Aliivibrio fischeri,
Salmonella typhimurium mutagenicity test), plants (ex. Lemna minor), single cell- (ex. Tetrahymena
pyriformis) and multicellular (ex. Daphnia
magna, Heterocypris incongruens, Folsomia candia – Collembola) animals. The group is involved in the teaching of the following
disciplines for the bio-enginneering and environmental engineering
specialisation at BME: environmental risk management, soil remediation, soil
protection, environmental microbiology, environmental toxicology and in the
supervision of individual student works, Bachelor theses and Master theses. |
| Sample publications: | Journal
articles Farkas, E., Feigl,
V., Gruiz, K., Vaszita, E., Ujaczki, E., Fekete-Kertész, I., Tolner, M., Horváth, CM., Berkl Z.,
Uzinger N., Rékási, M., Molnár, M., (2018) Microcosm
incubation study for monitoring the mid-term effects of different biochars on
acidic sandy soil applying a multiparameter approach, Process Safety and
Environmental Protection, 120, 24-36.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2018.08.027 Ujaczki, É., Feigl, V., Molnár,
M., Cusack, P., Curtin, T., Courtney, R., O'Donoghue, L., Davris, P.,
Hugi, C., W.H. Evangelou, M., Balomenos, E., Lenz, M. (2018). Reusing bauxite
residues: benefits beyond (critical raw) material recovery. Journal of
Chemical Technology & Biotechnology. doi: 10.1002/jctb.5687 Fekete-Kertész, I.,
Piszman, D., Molnár, M. (2017) Particle size and concentration dependent ecotoxicity of nano-
and microscale TiO2 -comparative study by different aquatic
test organisms of different trophic levels, Water Air & Soil Pollution,
228:245, 1–17. doi: 10.1007/s11270-017-3394-5 Ujaczki, É., Zimmermann, Y., Gasser, C., Molnár,
M., Feigl, V., Lenz, M. (2017) Red mud as secondary source for
critical raw materials – Extraction study, Journal of Chemical Technology
& Biotehnology, doi: 10.1002/jctb.5300 Feigl, V., Ujaczki
É., Vaszita, E., Molnár M. (2017) Influence of red mud on soil microbial communities: application
and comprehensive evaluation of the Biolog EcoPlate approach as a tool
in soil microbiological studies, Science of the Total Environment, 595,
903–911. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.266 Ujaczki, É., Zimmermann, Y.S., Gasser, C.A., Molnár,
M., Feigl, V., Lenz, M. (2017) Red mud as secondary source for critical raw
materials – Purification of rare earth elements by liquid/liquid extraction, Journal
of Chemical Technology & Biotehnology. doi: 10.1002/jctb.5289 Molnár, M.,
Vaszita, E., Farkas, É., Ujaczki, É., Fekete-Kertész, I., Tolner, M., Klebercz,
O., Kirchkeszner, Cs., Gruiz, K., Uzinger, N., Feigl, V.
(2016) Acidic sandy soil improvement with biochar – a microcosm study, Science
of the Total Environment, 563–564, 855–865. doi:
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.091. Gruiz, K.,
Fekete-Kertész, I., Kunglné Nagy, Zs., Hajdu, Cs., Feigl, V., Vaszita, E.,
Molnár, M.
(2016) Direct toxicity assessment – methods, evaluation, interpretation, Science
of the Total Environment, 563–564, 803–812, doi:
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.007 Ujaczki, É., Feigl,
V., Farkas, É., Vaszita, E., Gruiz, K., Molnár, M. (2016) Red mud as acidic sandy soil
ameliorant: a microcosm incubation study, Journal of Chemical Technology
& Biotechnology, 91 (6), 1596–1606. doi: 10.1002/jctb.4898 Ujaczki, É., Feigl
V., Molnár, M., Vaszita E., Uzinger, N., Erdélyi A., Gruiz, K. (2016) The
potential application of red mud and soil mixture as additive to the surface
layer of a landfill cover system: field-study, Journal of Environmental
Sciences, 44, 189–196. doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2015.12.014 Fekete-Kertész, I., Kunglné Nagy, Zs.,
Gruiz, K., Magyar, Á., Farkas, É., Molnár, M.
(2015) Assessing toxicity of organic aquatic micropollutants based on the total
chlorophyll content of Lemna minor as a sensitive endpoint, Periodica
Polytechnica – Chemical Engineering, 59 (4), 262–271. doi: 10.3311/PPch.8077 Nagy, Z.M., Molnár,
M., Fekete-Kertész, I., Molnár-Perl, I., Fenyvesi, E., Gruiz, K. (2014)
Removal of emerging micropollutants from water using cyclodextrin, Science
of the Total Environment, 485–486, 711–719. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.003 Klebercz, O., Mayes, W.M., Anton, Á.D., Feigl,
V., Jarvis, A.P., Gruiz, K. (2012) Ecotoxicity of
fluvial sediments downstream of the Ajka red mud spill, Hungary, Journal of
Environmental Monitoring, 14 (8), 2063–2071. doi: 10.1039/c2em30155e Burke, IT., Mayes, WM.,
Peacock, CL., Brown, AP., Jarvis, AP., Gruiz, K. (2012)
Speciation of Arsenic, Chromium, and Vanadium in red mud samples from the Ajka
spill site, Hungary. Environmental Science & Technology, 46,
3085−3092. dx.doi.org/10.1021/es3003475 Renforth, P., Mayes, W.M.,
Jarvis, A.P., Burke, I.T., Manning, D.A.C. and Gruiz, K.
(2012) Contaminant mobility and carbon sequestration downstream of the Ajka
(Hungary) red mud spill: The effects of gypsum dosing, Science of the Total
Environment, 421–422, 253–259.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.01.046 Mayes, W.M., Jarvis, A.P.,
Burke, I.T., Walton, M., Feigl, V., Klebercz, O., Gruiz, K.
(2011) Dispersal and attenuation of trace contaminants downstream of the Ajka
bauxite residue (red mud) depository failure, Hungary, Environmental
Science & Technology, 45 (12), 5147–5155. doi: 10.1021/es200850y Gruiz, K., Molnár,
M., Fenyvesi,
É., Hajdú, Cs., Atkari, Á., Barkács, K. (2011) Cyclodextrins
in innovative engineering tools for risk-based environmental management, Journal
of Inclusion Phenomena and Macrocyclic Chemistry (ISSN: 1388-3127),
70:(3-4), 299–306. doi: 10.1007/s10847-010-9909-y Leitgib, L., Gruiz,
K., Fenyvesi,
É., Balogh, G., Murányi, A. (2008) Development of an innovative soil
remediation: “Cyclodextrin-enhanced combined technology”, Science of the
Total Environment, 392, 12–21. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.10.055 Leitgib, L.,
Kálmán, J. and Gruiz, K. (2007) Comparison of bioassays by testing whole soil and their water
extract from contaminated sites, Chemosphere, 66, 428–434,
doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.06.024 Book
editing Gruiz, K., Meggyes, T., Fenyvesi, É. (Eds)
(2019) Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management, 4. Risk
Reduction Technologies and Case Studies, CRC Press/Balkema, Taylor and
Francis Group, London, UK, 558p., ISBN: 9781138001572 ISBN:
9781317697428, https://doi.org/10.1201/b20405 Gruiz, K., Meggyes, T., Fenyvesi, É. (Eds)
(2016) Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management, 3. Site
Assessment and Monitoring Tools, CRC Press/Balkema, Taylor and Francis
Group, London, UK, 447p., ISBN: 978-1-138-00156-5 Gruiz, K., Meggyes, T., Fenyvesi, É. (Eds)
(2015) Engineering tools for environmental risk management, 2.
Environmental toxicology, CRC Press/Balkema, Taylor and Francis Group,
London, UK, 447p., ISBN 978-1-138-00155-8 Gruiz, K., Meggyes, T., Fenyvesi, É. (Eds)
(2014) Engineering tools for environmental risk management, 1.
Environmental Deterioration and Contamination - Problems and their Management,
CRC Press/Balkema, Taylor and Francis Group, London, UK, 447p., ISBN:978-1-138-00154-1
(Hbk), ISBN: 978-1-315-77878-5 (eBook PDF). |
| Awards and achievements: | -
„K&H
for sustainable agriculture” 2016 scholarship scheme – 1. prize, Scientific
Students' Associations Conference (TDK) category, Bacsárdi Szilvia and Rózsa
Máté: Innovative soil amelioration with biochar - from the laboratoy to field
application (TDK paper) Supervisor: Dr. Molnár Mónika (BME) -
„K&H for sustainable
agriculture” 2017 scholarship scheme – 2. prize, Scientific Students'
Associations Conference (TDK) category: Kirchkeszner Csaba: Innovative soil
amelioration with biochar - from the laboratoy to field application (TDK paper)
Supervisor: Dr. Molnár Mónika (BME) |
| Guest professors: | |
| Group leader: | Dr. Molnár Mónika, Dr. Gruiz Katalin, Dr. Feigl Viktória |