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. 2024 Jul 3;14(3):873-892.
doi: 10.3390/jox14030048.

Temporal Analysis of Pharmaceuticals as Emerging Contaminants in Surface Water and Wastewater Samples: A Case Study

Paula Paíga  1 , Luísa Correia-Sá  1 , Manuela Correia  1 , Sónia Figueiredo  1 , Joana Vieira  2 , Sandra Jorge  2 , Jaime Gabriel Silva  3   4 , Cristina Delerue-Matos  1
Affiliations

Temporal Analysis of Pharmaceuticals as Emerging Contaminants in Surface Water and Wastewater Samples: A Case Study

Paula Paíga et al. J Xenobiot. .

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals in the environment are a global concern, with studies in all continents highlighting their widespread occurrence and potential ecological impacts, revealing their presence, fate, and associated risks in aquatic ecosystems. Despite typically occurring at low concentrations (ranging from ng/L to µg/L), advancements in analytical methods and more sensitive equipment have enabled the detection of a higher number of pharmaceuticals. In this study, surface and wastewater samples were extracted using solid phase extraction and analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Among the therapeutic classes investigated, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs/analgesics, antibiotics, and psychiatric drugs showed a higher number of detected pharmaceuticals. Concentrations ranged from below method detection limit (<MDL) to 3.20 µg/L (caffeine) and <MDL to 639 µg/L (hydroxyibuprofen) in 2018, and from <MDL to 0.848 µg/L (diclofenac) and <MDL to 53.0 µg/L (caffeine) in 2019 for river water and wastewater samples. Temporal analysis showed an increase in the sum of pharmaceutical concentrations over the study years, highlighting the importance of monitoring pharmaceuticals in the environment and their potential accumulation over time.

Keywords: liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; overtime analysis; pharmaceuticals; public health; surface and wastewater samples.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest in this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of the studied compounds in each range of recovery.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of the compounds in the three groups of matrix effect: ion enhancement, minor matrix effect, and ion suppression.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results for each type of sample (river water and WWTP effluent and influent samples) in the sampling campaigns performed in 2018 and 2019: (A) Number of detected pharmaceuticals; (B) Sum of the concentrations and number of detected pharmaceuticals in each sampling site; (C) Sum of the concentrations of detected pharmaceuticals in WWTP effluent samples; (D) Sum of the concentrations of detected pharmaceuticals in WWTP influent samples; (E) Number of pharmaceuticals with concentration at µg/L level, (F) Number of metabolites and degradation product; (G) Number of pharmaceuticals detected by therapeutic class; and (H) Number of pharmaceuticals with 100% of detection frequency.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Temporal analysis for the study of pharmaceuticals during 5 years of campaigns (results from 2013 [17], 2014 [17], and 2017 [18] were published).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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