Polish J. of Environ. Stud. Vol. 20, No.

1 (2011), 21-28

Original Research

Using HPLC Method with DAD Detection

for the Simultaneous Determination of 15 Drugs
in Surface Water and Wastewater
Irena Baranowska*, Bartosz Kowalski
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Faculty, Silesian University of Technology,
Strzody 7, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

Received: 27 April 2010

Accepted: 20 August 2010
Abstract
Using HPLC method with DAD detection for the simultaneous determination of 15 pharmaceuticals
from different therapeutic groups in surface water and wastewater was proposed. The determined drugs included the analgesic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) paracetamol (PAR), metamizole (MTZ),
aspirin (ASP), salicylic acid (SAL), ibuprofen (IBU), ketoprofen (KET), diclofenac (DIC), and naproxen
(NAP); the corticosteroids dexamethasone (DEX) and prednisolone (PRE); the -blockers carvedilol (CAR),
metoprolol (MET), propranolol (PRO), and sotalol (SOT); and the anticonvulsant carbamazepine (CBM).
Three solid-phase extraction (SPE) columns were examined for the pre-concentration of water samples: the
Oasis HLB, NEXUS and Bond Elut ENV. The concentration level for which each method was validated in
spiked water samples was 0.2 g/L. The Oasis HLB column yielded the best recovery efficiency. Different
HPLC columns were examined to achieve the best separations with the shortest possible time. The best column, C 30 and was used for the determination of drugs from water samples.. The proposed method was applied
to the analysis of water samples, mostly from rivers, and can be used for screening as a rapid and low-cost
analytical tool. However, to confirm the positive findings MS techniques should be applied.

Keywords:pharmaceuticals, water samples, SPE, C 30 column

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Fig. 1. The chromatogram of standards mixture containing 3 g/mL for all drugs performed on the DAD detector.

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Table 5. Concentrations and standard deviations (g/L) of pharmaceuticals in different surface water samples (n=3).

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