A decade of water monitoring in a Mediterranean region: Pharmaceutical prioritisation for an upgraded analytical methodology

Abstract

In order to evaluate the performance of wastewater treatment strategies and to foster water reclamation it is necessary to evaluate the removal of water pollutants such as pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs). Therefore, the development and application of appropriate analytical methods for the monitoring of the most relevant ones is crucial. In this work, the occurrence data of 157 PhACs in different water bodies and wastewaters in Catalonia (Spain) in the last 10 years, as reported in circa 30 publications, was gathered and reviewed to select the 50 most relevant compounds, including 12 transformation products and metabolites. Historical data confirmed the high consumption and prescription of analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs, together with psychiatric drugs and antibiotics. An analytical protocol based on solid-phase extraction preconcentration and further measurement by UHPLC-MS/MS was upgraded for the selected 50 compounds and applied to the characterisation of water samples from Catalonia and the Greek Islands, both areas suffering from water scarcity. Results showed similar PhAC concentration profiles in both countries except in the case of some compounds such as iopromide, venlafaxine, and gemfibrozil