Monitoring of emerging micropollutants in hydric media in Bragança district
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abstract
Emerging Micropollutants are a subclass of Pollutants and they can be
classified as Persistent Organic Pollutants, Endocrine Disrupting Compounds and Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCP´s). These compounds may cause undesired effects to health or to the environment when used in high quantities or wrong ways. Generally, a pharmaceutical drug is prescribed to cause the desired therapeutic effect. However after their use, even at low concentrations they can retain their physicochemical properties [1].
Because of these effects, among others, PPCP’s are substances excreted in
relevant quantities by the human body and are not effectively removed from water in sewage treatment plants [2].
This work aims to develop and validate a method for the quantification and monitoring of emerging micropollutants belonging to the class of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP´s) in several hydric media from Bragança district, Portugal. Six pharmaceutical drugs were selected for this study, namely, ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, azithromycin, sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine and belongs to three different subclasses that were worldwide prescribed: three anti-inflammatory, two antibiotics and one antiepileptic, respectively. These compounds were chosen after searching which compounds could be more frequently medical prescribed in Bragança, based on related studies associated with regions with similar socioeconomic data. The next step will be the selection of an extraction and an instrumental method of analysis, as well as the selection of the samples collection points in Bragança and to perform some preliminary monitoring of the referred emerging micropollutants.
