HPLC/ UV/ FLUORESCENCE DETECTION OF SEVERAL PHARMACEUTICALS IN SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT WASTEWATERS OF JORDAN

Abstract

ABSTRACT A multi-residue HPLC/UV/Fluorescence method was developed for a screening of the most consumed pharma-ceuticals (methotrexate, caffeine, diclofenac, glimepiride, ibuprofen) in Jordan. The analytes were identified (µg/L concentrations) in wastewater, and identification was con-firmed using spiked samples. The separation was done on a RP-C 8 column at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min using H 2 O/ ace-tonitrile (1/1) with 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid as eluent. Ali-quots (200 ml of each sample) were extracted and cleaned-up using C18 cartridges (500 mg). Wastewater samples were gathered from three sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Amman/Jordan and two hospital outer drains, and maxi-mum concentrations for methotrexate, caffeine, glimepiride, ibuprofen and diclofenac were found to be 699, 1187, 90, 66 and 65 µg/L. There are differences in the efficiency of removing the studied pharmaceuticals from STPs. This could be referred to the different treatment systems, the nature and the con-centration of the drugs in wastewater. In this work, the % removal efficiency of the studied drugs was found to range between 25-100%.