Advanced mass spectrometric methods applied to the study of fate and removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment
2011
Petrović, M., Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona (Spain) | Radjenović, J., Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Barcelona (Spain). Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (IDAEA) | Gros, M., Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona (Spain) | Barcelo, D., Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona (Spain)
Once they enter a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), pharmaceutical residues are usually not completely degraded or retained by adsorption to sludge. Hence, they pass through conventional wastewater treatment and end up in the receiving waters in certain percentage. Considering the ubiquity and pseudo-persistence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), end-of-pipe treatment of wastewater might increase the ecotoxicological risk for the environment and eventually humans. Determining the fate of PhACs during wastewater treatment is of great importance and prerequisite for proper risk assessment. Therefore, elucidation of bio(degradation) reaction pathways and identification of transformation products is of crucial importance in understanding their fate during water treatment and in the aquatic environment. However, such process can result in a complex mixture of intermediates and transformation products formed. Their identification is a complicated and cumbersome task, requiring the application of advanced instrumental methods. Among other analytical methods used for this purpose (as LC-UV/FL and GC-MS) LC-MS gained popularity and became one of the preferred technique for analyzing pharmaceuticals and transformation products of reactions occurring in the aquatic environment. This presentation will give an overview of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods used for the determination of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products in wastewater and environmental samples. Several practical examples of LC-MS/MS analysis of multi class pharmaceuticals using different MS detectors (quadrupole linear ion trap and quadrupole time of flight) will be presented, discussing advantages and pitfalls, such as selectivity, sensitivity, linearity, matrix effect, confirmation of positive findings. Approaches for the identification of transformation products using LC-hybrid MS will be discussed showing examples of biodegradation of atenolol, diclofenac and aceclofenac.
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