Determinazione di principi attivi farmaceutici nelle acque mediante SPE ed analisi in HPLC UV/ FLUORESCENZA

In this paper we present a procedure for the analysis of nine selected pharmaceuticals belonging to different therapeutic classes and three steroid hormones in wastewaters and polluted surface waters. This procedure is based on solid phase extraction (SPE) using polymeric extraction cartridges and HPLC with simultaneous UV and fluorescence detection. The method was validated on spiked real water samples (river water and effluent from a WWTP) and showed satisfactory accuracy and sensitivity, with average recoveries in the 65-104% range and relative standard deviations (RSD) <=16%. The limits of quantification (LOQs) ranged from 10 to 1100 ng/L for all spiked matrices. The method developed is proposed for routine analysis of pharmaceuticals in polluted waters as a useful alternative when more sophisticated techniques are not available.