Isolation and screening of phenol-degrading bacteria from pulp and paper mill effluent

Phenol and its derivatives are pollutants present in the effluents of major industries such as paper mill, oil refineries and petrochemical plants. Removal of phenol from industrial effluent is extremely important because of its toxicity to the aquatic life and environment. In the present study, an attempt has been made to eradicate the phenol from wastewater using isolated bacteria from chronically contaminated effluent samples of a paper mill industry. The pH value of the effluent has been observed to be 8.2. The presence of high concentration of phenol has been observed in the effluent samples. The total sixteen bacterial isolates as obtained were checked for growth on minimal salt medium amended with different concentrations of phenol by flask culture technique. In the present study, the two isolate species of SP-4 and SP-8 were found to be very tolerant to degrade a phenol concentration up to 1800 mg/L.