Published in Scientific Papers. Series E. Land Reclamation, Earth Observation & Surveying, Environmental Engineering, Vol. XII
Written by Valentina Andreea CALMUC, Madalina CALMUC, Maxim ARSENI, Ira-Adeline SIMIONOV, Alina ANTACHE, Stefania-Adelina MILEA, Catalina ITICESCU, Puiu Lucian GEORGESCU
Pharmaceuticals are part of the emerging pollutants class found in aquatic ecosystems. The presence of these contaminants in the aquatic ecosystem can have harmful effects on living organisms due to their toxicity and ability to accumulate in tissues. In this study, water samples taken from stations located in the Lower Danube River Basin were analysed in order to identify and quantify some classes of pharmaceuticals. To confirm the presence of pharmaceutical traces in surface water samples, a High-resolution UHPLC-MS/MS was used. The obtained results demonstrated that the most frequently identified pharmaceutical residues in the water samples were: caffeine > carbamazepine > metformin > sulfamethoxazole > trimethoprim > clindamycin > ketoprofen > diclofenac > clarithromycin. The highest recorded concentration was 118.52 ng/L for caffeine possibly due to the presence of this compound especially in drinks and food and to a lesser extent also in medicines and the lowest value was 0.36 ng/L for trimethoprim.
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