Simultaneous LC-MS/MS determination of 40 legal and illegal psychoactive drugs in breast and bovine milk.

This work presents a fast, sensitive and reliable multi-residue methodology based on fat and protein precipitation and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of common legal and illegal psychoactive drugs, and major metabolites, in breast milk. One-fourth of the 40 target analytes is investigated for the first time in this biological matrix. The method was validated in breast milk and also in various types of bovine milk, as tranquilizers are occasionally administered to food-producing animals.

Occurrence of pharmaceutical, recreational and psychotropic drug residues in surface water on the northern Antarctic Peninsula region.

Human presence in the Antarctic is increasing due to research activities and the rise in tourism. These activities contribute a number of potentially hazardous substances. The aim of this study is to conduct the first characterisation of the pharmaceuticals and recreational drugs present in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region, and to assess the potential environmental risk they pose to the environment.

[Evaluation of the efficacy of the sewage treatment plant of Toledo, Spain in the elimination of drugs of abuse and the estimation of consumption].

Background: in the last years, the presence of new contaminants in water has been rising. There are only few studies which analyze such presence. The aims were to determine the occurrence of drugs of abuse and their metabolites in the influent and effluent of the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Talavera de la Reina, and the River Tagus, as well as to evaluate the STP removal efficiency in the elimination of these substances and to estimate the consumption of drugs in Talavera.

[Water pollution in sources close to oil-producing fields of Bolivia].

Objective: to determine the concentrations of petrochemical compounds in the drinking water sources of communities located near oil-producing fields in the Bolivian Chaco region.

Methods: data were collected on total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), and 22 metals in samples from 42 sources of water for human consumption located less than 30 km from an oil-producing field. Distribution of the concentration and adherence to the standards contained in the Bolivian, European, and United States regulations, as well as the recommendations of the World Health Organization, were analyzed.

Heterogeneous photo-Fenton treatment for the reduction of pharmaceutical contamination in Madrid rivers and ecotoxicological evaluation by a miniaturized fern spores bioassay.

Fifty-six pharmaceuticals of various chemical groups, such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and cardiovascular drugs, were detected in four selected river waters receiving sewage effluents in the Community of Madrid (Spain). A promising approach for the degradation of those residues is the application of a photo-Fenton treatment. Several new bioassays using fern spores were employed for the evaluation of acute and chronic toxicity based on mitochondrial activity, DNA and chlorophyll quantifications of as-received river water and photo-Fenton-treated samples.

Pollution by psychoactive pharmaceuticals in the Rivers of Madrid metropolitan area (Spain).

There are a number of reports in the literature which describe the occurrence of so-called emerging pollutants, such as pharmaceuticals, in surface water. Few of these studies have reported values from large cities in relatively arid areas, such as in Spain. The persistence of some pharmaceuticals to usual wastewater treatments allows their discharge into surface waters.