Trace analysis of fluoxetine and its metabolite norfluoxetine. Part II: Enantioselective quantification and studies of matrix effects in raw and treated wastewater by solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The isotope-labeled compounds fluoxetine-d5 and norfluoxetine-d5 were used to study matrix effects caused by co-eluting compounds originating from raw and treated wastewater samples, collected in Uppsala, Sweden. The matrix effects were investigated by the determination of matrix factors (MF) and by a post-column infusion method. The matrix factors were determined to be 38–47% and 71–86% for the enantiomers of norfluoxetine-d5 and fluoxetine-d5, respectively. The influence of matrix effects when quantifying the enantiomers of the active pharmaceutical ingredient and the metabolite in wastewater samples with LC–MS/MS is discussed and methods to overcome the problem are presented. The enantiomeric concentrations of fluoxetine and its human metabolite norfluoxetine, quantified by a one-point calibration method, were 12–52 pM (3.5–16 ng L−1) in raw wastewater and 4–48 pM (1.2–15 ng L−1) in treated wastewater. Furthermore, the calculated enantiomeric fractions (EF) of the substances were found to be between 0.68 and 0.71 in both matrices. Neither the EF values for fluoxetine nor those for norfluoxetine were significantly different in the raw wastewater compared to the treated wastewater. Interestingly, the concentration of (S)-fluoxetine was found to be higher than the concentration of (R)-fluoxetine in both raw and treated wastewater. These results are different from other results presented in the literature, which shows that the relative concentrations of the enantiomers of a chiral active pharmaceutical ingredient might be significantly different in wastewater samples from different treatment systems. We report, for the first time, the concentrations of the enantiomers of norfluoxetine in wastewater samples. The concentrations of (S)-norfluoxetine were found to be higher than the concentration of (R)-norfluoxetine in the raw as well as in the treated wastewater samples.

► Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine were quantified in wastewater by chiral LC–MS/MS.
► Matrix effects were studied by the use of fluoxetine-d5 and norfluoxetine-d5.
► The ESI-signals were suppressed for about 15 min by the extracted wastewater.
► The enantiomers were subjected to different degree of ion suppression.
► The enantiomeric fractions of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine were 0.68–0.71.