Ozonation and UV photolysis for removing anticancer drug residues from hospital wastewater.

The present study investigates the use of UV light and the ozone process for doxorubicin, daunorubicin, epirubicin, and irinotecan degradation. The process was carried out using different pH values in hospital wastewater. The use of UV radiation reduces the concentration of anticancer drugs, but in all cases, this technology was not able enough to remove on the whole these contaminants from hospital wastewater.

Antipsychotic drugs in hospital wastewater and a preliminary risk assessment.

The residues of pharmaceutical and personal care products are the cause of increasing concern around the world. The aim of this study was to carry out the quantification of six antipsychotic drugs in hospital wastewater with the aid of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and, subsequently, make a preliminary assessment of the environmental risk posed. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and solid phase extraction were optimized by multivariate design and validated in compliance with international guidelines.

A simultaneous determination of anti-cancer drugs in hospital effluent by DLLME HPLC-FLD, together with a risk assessment.

Currently, there is an increasing use of anti-cancer drugs, and hence their occurrence in the environment must be properly managed, in particular, in the light of their high degree of toxicity. In this study, analytical methods using HPLC-FLD assisted by microextraction and solid phase extraction, were developed and validated for the determination of doxorubicin, daunorubicin, epirubicin and irinotecan in hospital effluent. The validation results show determination coefficients (r) higher than 0.

Determination of statin drugs in hospital effluent with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and quantification by liquid chromatography.

Statins are classified as being amongst the most prescribed agents for treating hypercholesterolaemia and preventing vascular diseases. In this study, a rapid and effective liquid chromatography method, assisted by diode array detection, was designed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of atorvastatin (ATO) and simvastatin (SIM) in hospital effluent samples. The solid phase extraction (SPE) of the analytes was optimized regarding sorbent material and pH, and the dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), in terms of pH, ionic strength, type and volume of extractor/dispersor solvents.

Occurrence of cocaine and metabolites in hospital effluent - A risk evaluation and development of a HPLC method using DLLME.

A fast method for the determination of cocaine and its metabolites in hospital effluent samples was worked out by using liquid chromatography with the aid of fluorescence and diode array detection. Solid phase extraction and dispersive liquid -liquid microextraction were employed during the sample preparation stage. The experiment was conducted by using Chromabond C18 ec 6 ml/500 mg cartridges, with recoveries higher than 96.