Monitoring of residues of selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the river Warta

The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the aqueous environment has been widely published but the fate of pharmaceutical residues in the environment continues to attract the attention of the scientific community. Due to the widespread use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), this group of drugs is often detected and determined in surface waters, influent and effluent wastewaters, and in drinking waters. Ketoprofen, naproxen, fenoprofen, ibuprofen and tolmetin are well-known representatives of NSAIDs. This paper describes the results of a pilot survey study carried out on samples of river water (the River Warta) collected in Poznan during the period from March to December 2012. NSAID residues were analyzed by liquidliquid extraction using the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LLE-LC-MS/MS) method. The results obtained show the presence of ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen and fenoprofen at nanogram per litre levels in river water. There was no presence of tolmetin in the test samples.