Pharmaceutical drugs as emerging pollutants in aqueous media of Northeast Portugal
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abstract
Emerging pollutants are potentially toxic substances that although found in very small concentrations can produce hazard effects to the environment. Due to their very small concentrations they are not yet included in the water quality monitoring programs neither in national or international environmental control regulations. Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) represent an important group of emerging pollutants owing to increased worldwide consumption and to their inherent capacity to induce physiological harmful effects in very low doses, which raises several concerns related with the potential adverse effects on humans, animals and environmental systems.
In this work, it will be presented the development and validation of a complete experimental methodology proposed for the monitoring of pharmaceutical drugs. The method is based on solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by analysis with high performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). Experimental results obtained with two different columns will be presented. An analytical Nucleosil 100-5 C18 column, 150 mm x 4.6 mm, obtained from Macherey-Nagel for compounds with lower pKa values and a SiliaChrom XT C18 column, 4.6 mm x 250 mm, obtained from SiliCycle for compounds with higher pKa values. The method is validated by the analysis of real aqueous matrices samples obtained from different water media sources, such as, swimming pools, rivers and wastewater treatment plants. To extend the scope of the analytical method and thus obtain a broader study, several drugs were selected, belonging to five different pharmacological classes: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen, acetylsalicylic acid, ketoprofen, naproxen and diclofenac), analgesic (paracetamol), antibiotic (sulfamethoxazole), an anticonvulsant (carbamazepine) and a central nervous system stimulator (caffeine). These compounds were selected due to their high level of use and medical prescription and, consequently, leading to a high probability of environmental contamination.
