Grzegorz Siedlewicz

• PhD
• Oceanographer at Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences

The presence of antibiotic substances in the marine environment is of high concern since it potentially accelerates widespread bacterial antibiotic resistance and may have negative effects on bacteria responsible for organic matter mineralization and processes of nitrification and denitrification. Thus concentration of the antibiotic residues and i...

The aim of this paper was a taxonomic verification of cyanobacteria of the genus Anabaena that occur in the Gulf of Gdańsk. Classical taxonomic methods were combined with modern molecular taxonomic methods (polyphasic approach). Analysis of the species diversity of cyanobacteria from the genus Anabaena was based on the microscopic analysis and on t...

The development of simple and reproducible analytical methods for the determination of new organic pollutants like pharmaceuticals and personal care products in seawaters is of the highest priority. In the present study, a new analytical method based on offline solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography with standard UV detection (SPE-HPLC-UV...

Marine sediments are major sources of legacy pollution, capable of releasing toxic mercury (Hg) into the water column when disturbed. This study evaluated Hg remobilization from surface sediments during resuspension events by examining sediment properties, Hg concentrations, and speciation. Research was conducted in the southern Baltic Sea, represe...

Marine sediments are major sources of legacy pollution, capable of releasing toxic mercury (Hg) into the water column when disturbed. This study evaluated Hg remobilization from surface sediments during resuspension events by examining sediment properties, Hg concentrations, and speciation. Research was conducted in the southern Baltic Sea, represe...

The number of applications and commercialized processes utilizing ionic liquids has been increasing, and it is anticipated that this trend will persist and even intensify in the future. Ionic liquids possess desirable characteristics, such as low vapor pressure, good water solubility, amphiphilicity, and stability. Nevertheless, these properties ca...

In summer 2017 numerous dead round gobies ( Neogobius melanostomus) and individuals covered with white coating were observed in the Puck Bay. The aim of our research was to determine the microbiological composition of the round goby from the Puck Bay, focusing on the presence of pathogens. Bacteria were identified by biochemical methods and, by seq...

Since the 1970s, the amount of aquatic plants and algae debris, called beach wrack (BW), has increased along the shores of industrialised regions. The strong ability of primary producers to accumulate pollutants can potentially result in their deposition on the beach along with the BW. Despite that, the fate and impact of such pollutants on sandy b...

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) transmit many chemical contaminants to aquatic environments. Quantitative data on micropollutant emissions via WWTPs are needed for environmental risk assessments and evaluation of mitigation measures. This study compiled published data on substances analysed in effluents from WWTPs in the Baltic Sea region, asse...

Riverine systems act as converging pathways for discarded litter within drainage basins, becoming key elements in gauging the transfer of mismanaged waste into the ocean. However, riverine litter data are scarce and biased towards microplastics, generally lacking information about larger items. Based on the first ever database of riverine floating...

Antibiotic residues have been commonly detected worldwide in freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems. The review summarizes the up-to-date information about the toxic effects of over 60 antibiotics on nontarget autotrophic microorganisms with a particular focus on marine microalgae. A comprehensive overview of the available reports led to the...

The increasing knowledge and awareness concerning the presence of pharmaceutical residues and their negative impact on the marine environment create a need to develop new tools to investigate and monitor their pathways. Multiresidue methods allow the determination of a vast number of target compounds from different classes of pharmaceuticals in a s...

Methylmercury (MeHg) is the most toxic and dangerous form of mercury occurring in the environment. MeHg is highly bioaccumulative in organisms and undergoes biomagnification via the food chain. In the Baltic Sea munition dumpsites, methylmercury can be formed from mercury fulminate contained in primary explosives, as environmental conditions there...

About 50 000 tons of chemical weapons (CW) were dumped to the Baltic Sea after the Second World War. Munitions are located in the deep areas of the Baltic Sea, and there they act as a point source of contamination to the ecosystem. Corroded munitions release chemical warfare agents (CWAs) to nearby water and sediments. In this study we investigated...

The end-Devonian global Hangenberg event (359 Ma) is among the most devastating mass extinction events in Earth’s history, albeit not one of the “Big Five”. This extinction is linked to worldwide anoxia caused by global climatic changes. These changes could have been driven by astronomical forcing and volcanic cataclysm, but ultimate causes of the...

Even though the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the water environment is thought to be a potential problem for human health and aquatic organisms, the level of knowledge of their sources and presence in the marine ecosystem is still insufficient. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the emergence of sixteen pharmaceuticals and caffeine...

The study aimed at measuring the influence of a wide range of oxytetracycline concentrations, with particular attention to the low levels of the antibiotic on cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and Nodularia spumigena, diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum and the model green algae Chlorella vulgaris by conducting prolonged toxicity tests (lasting 10...

The end-Devonian global Hangenberg event (359 Ma) is among the most devastating mass extinction events in Earth’s history, albeit not one of the “Big Five”. This extinction is linked to worldwide anoxia caused by global climatic changes. These changes could have been driven by astronomical forcing and volcanic cataclysm, but ultimate causes of the...

The aim of this research was to assess the impact of hydrotechnical works within the riverbed and riparian zone on the mobility of mercury in soil and its outflow to the river and the sea. Deepening and reconstruction of the riverbed or the cutting of reeds, influenced the fate of mercury in the river system. However, only activitis that disturbed...

After World War II, as a move toward Germany demilitarization, up to 385,000 t of munitions were sunk in the Baltic Sea. Munition containing various harmful substances, including chemical warfare agents (CWA) and explosives, that can affect marine biota were dumped on the seafloor. Some of those objects contained mercury, either as elemental mercur...

Coastal marine areas of densely populated countries are exposed to a wide array of human activities having an impact on their ecological status. The Baltic Sea is particularly susceptible to pollution by hazardous substances (limited water exchange, shallowness, and large catchment area). Polish media regularly reports ecological catastrophes in th...

The JRC exploratory project RIMMEL provides information about litter, mainly plastic waste, entering the European Seas through river systems. RIMMEL has collected data on riverine floating macro litter inputs to the sea. Data acquisition was based on the Riverine Litter Observation Network (RiLON) activities, which collected data from rivers in the...

Concentrations of selected antibiotic compounds from different groups were measured in sediment samples (14 analytes) and in near-bottom water samples (12 analytes) collected in 2011-2013 from the southern Baltic Sea (Polish coastal zone). Antibiotics were determined at concentration levels of a few to hundreds of ng g(-1) d.w. in sediments and ng...

The main objective of this study was to adapt analytical procedures for determining antibiotic residues in solid and aquatic samples to marine sediments and to investigate the occurrence of 9 sulfonamides, trimethoprim and 2 quinolones in southern Baltic Sea sediments. The analytical procedure was applied to sediment samples characterized as sand a...

During the last years there has been a growing interest in the research focused on the pharmaceutical residues in the environment. Those compounds have been recognized as a threat to environmental stability, due to their inherent biological activity and their pseudo-persistency. Nevertheless, the analysis of pharmaceuticals in environmental samples...

Pollution in Baltic Sea

Pharmaceuticals are a class of emerging environmental contaminants. They are manufactured to be biologically active and to be persistent against biodegradation. This makes them more risky for the environment, as they can have negative impact on living organisms. However, still there are many problems in reliable analysis of these compounds due to l...

Pharmaceuticals are biologically active and relatively persistent substances which have been recently recognized as a continuing threat to the aquatic environment. Numerous adverse effects may arise for aquatic non-target organisms from the presence of pharmaceutical residues. One of the main pharmaceutical contaminants are antibiotics which are in...