Monitoring of Contamination of the Warta River in Poznan by Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Antibiotics

Abstract

The pharmaceutical active compounds: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antibiotics, hormones, as well as detergents and pesticides that help improve human life are considered a source of water contamination. The amount of pharmaceutical active compounds in the environment is constantly increasing due to their widespread use by humans. Medicines sales in Poland are very high and rank sixth among European countries; moreover, sales are growing dynamically. Analysis of water samples from Warta River made it possible to study the dependence of NSAIDs, analgesics, and antibiotics concentrations in water due to season, month, and pandemic time. Analytes from the surface water were separated and concentrated by solid phase extraction (SPE) and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry technique (LC-MS/MS). The concentration of pharmaceuticals in the Warta River was subject to significant (or moderate) fluctuations during the study period. Concentrations depended on weather conditions and disease periods (seasonal, epidemic).