A Rapid UHPLC Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Drugs from Different Therapeutic Groups in Surface Water and Wastewater

A SPE-UHPLC-UV method for the determination of 13 pharmaceuticals from different therapeutic groups in surface water and wastewater samples was proposed. The following three solid-phase-extraction (SPE) columns with polymeric sorbents were used as a pre-concentration step: the Oasis HLB (average recoveries 93.8 %), the Nexus (84.0 %) and the Bond Elut ENV (88.3 %). A reverse-phase UHPLC with a C(18e) monolithic column and gradient elution program was used to obtain the best separations for all 13 drugs in short analysis time (3.4 min). The LOD range for determined drugs was 0.02–0.18 μg L(−1), and the concentration range for drugs found in water samples was 0.06–0.90 μg L(−1). The proposed method was used to analyze different water samples, mostly from rivers, and can be used as a monitoring tool for environmental pollution.