Simultaneous analysis of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and estrogenic hormones in water and wastewater samples using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and gas chromatography with electron capture detection

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the group of pharmaceuticals that is most often found in the environment, whereas estrogenic hormones are considered to be potent endocrine disruptors. However, the fate and persistence of these compounds in the environment are still unclear. In this study we propose two approaches for determining these compounds in environmental water samples: GC–MS using time windows and operating in selected ion-monitoring mode (SIM) and, for the first time, gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC–ECD). The identification criteria of both methods fulfilled the requirements of Directive 2002/657/EC. The use of time windows improved the sensitivity of GC–MS measurements. In GC–MS analysis the pharmaceuticals were determined as trimethylsilyl, in GC–ECD as pentafluoropropionyl derivatives. The influence of such parameters as the type of reagent, type of solvent, reaction time, reaction temperature and microwave irradiation in a household microwave oven on the efficacy of silylation was investigated. Derivatization using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) and 1% trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) in pyridine (1:1, v/v) for 30 min in 60 °C was found to be optimal. Optimization of the solid phase extraction procedure (SPE) confirmed that the application of Oasis HLB cartridges, the acidification of loading samples to pH 2 and the use of methanol as eluent gave the best absolute recoveries (ARs) of the target compounds. The following ARs of all the compounds were achieved: 58.2–106.8% in influent wastewater, 77.8–103.4% in effluent wastewater and 81.2–101.9% in surface water samples. Validation of the SPE–GC–MS method enables 13 pharmaceuticals to be determined with MDLs between 3.3 and 343.6 ng/L, depending on the analytes and matrices. GC–ECD analysis enables the determination of 6 pharmaceuticals in surface water samples with MDLs between 0.7 and 5.4 ng/L. The proposed methods were successfully used for analyzing selected pharmaceuticals in wastewaters and river waters in Poland.

► A new SPE–GC–ECD method for the determination of pharmaceuticals in water samples.
► Application of SPE–GC–MS(SIM) method in highly complex wastewater matrices.
► Application of time windows to improve GC–MS(SIM) measurement sensitivity.
► Reliable confirmation of the presence of pharmaceuticals using ion ratio.
► Application of the proposed methods to the analysis of real samples from Poland.