Simultaneous extraction and determination of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in river water and sewage by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

This is a pioneering method for the quantification of acetaminophen, sulfamethoxazole, diclofenac, atenolol, metoprolol, diethyltoluamide and oxybenzone in atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation mode. The method was validated for high repeatability and reproducibility with relative standard deviations less than 10%.

Instrument quantification limits for PPCPs were within the range of 0.05–1.0 µg L −1 , and the method quantification limits (MQLs) for ultrapure water were within the range of 0.3–15 ng L −1 . All samples were extracted using Oasis© hydrophilic–lipophilic balanced cartridges with optimised sample size and extraction conditions. Good accuracy was demonstrated, with solid-phase extraction recoveries above 80% for most PPCPs.