Portable microfluidic devices for in-field detection of pharmaceutical residues in water: Recent outcomes and current technological situation – A short review

The presence of pharmaceutical residues in urban and non-urban water is a reflection of the continuous growth of an essential industry, whose residues are often released into the environment throughout the manufacturing processes of commercial drugs, and by the human and veterinarian consumption of these products. Pharmaceutical residues are currently classified as emerging contaminants, and their documented occurrence in waters has rocketed since recent discoveries have demonstrated a series of toxicological and ecotoxicological effects associated with the interaction with these molecules. Moreover, several complications have been identified in the instrumental techniques traditionally used for their detection, although their remarkable analytical characteristics, deriving in the absence of response when these emerging contaminants are present at low concentrations in aquatic matrices. Microfluidic analytical platforms are practical, portable, and low-cost solutions that have been successfully used for the screening of pharmaceuticals in environmental matrices in situ. In this short review, various essential aspects of these technologies were presented. Additionally, recent approaches for water analysis using different types of microfluidic technologies for detecting drugs were exposed, finding a promising potential on the exploiting of the features offered by these platforms for this particular application.

The work is part of the project entitled “Contaminantes emergentes y prioritarios en las aguas reutilizadas en agricultura: riesgos y efectos en suelos, producción agrícola y entorno ambiental” funded by CSIC-Tecnológico de Monterrey under i-Link ​+ ​program (LINKB20030). All listed authors are also grateful to their representative universities/institutes for providing literature facilities.

Peer reviewed