The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the carrier
mounted bacterial consortium with emphasis on the impact on
the microbial community dynamics in a large scale system
(5000 l). This study has demonstrated the successful application
of a marine waste product allowing the development of a unique
sustainable and environmentally friendly technology. The advantage
of this remediation treatment method is the simplicity of
the application, the recycling of marine materials, the degradative
ability of indigenous microbial communities and the effectiveness
on different volumes of oil spills, whether consisting of light or
heavy fractions. Furthermore, this study has shown the importance
of incorporating ecotoxicity assays to ensure adequate environmental
safety as hydrocarbon concentration data alone does not
detect potential harmful metabolites. As a result there is a need
for generating simplified protocols in order to identify the toxic
compounds and/or metabolites