Pharmaceutical substances in ambient particulates: A preliminary assessment

•Pharmaceutical compounds (PCs) were investigated for the first time in airborne particulates.•PCs were silylated with MTBSTFA and analyzed by cold on-column injection and GC-MSD.•PCs could be characterized in most examined samples.•Individual PC contents in particulates ranged <0.1-8.6 ng m−3, depending on city and year season.

Till now, no attention has been paid to pharmaceuticals (PCs) in the air, though they are known to affect waters, soils, foods and biota. This paper describes the first attempt to characterize the PC occurrence in the air. Airborne particulates (PM10 or PM2.5 fractions, from Amsterdam, Netherland, Rome and Rende, Italy) were sampled on quartz fiber filter by means of pumping systems operating at medium-volume conditions (16 or 38.5 L min−1). The samples were solvent extracted through sonication with a dichloromethane:acetone:methanol mixture and reduced close to dryness; three fractions of the residue were separated through column chromatography; they comprised non polar, low polar and very polar organic compounds, respectively, and PCs were in the third one. Chemical analysis was performed by means of gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MSD), after treatment of solutions with methyl,tertzbutylsilyl-trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) to form silyl derivatives of most PCs. The following substances were investigated: acetaminophenol, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, fenoprefen, naproxen, fenofibrate, diclofenac, acetylcysteine and sulfanilamide; p-hydroxybenzoic acid and salicylic acid; and parabens (methyl, ethyl and propyl). Except aspirin, acetamidophenol, acetylcysteine and sulfanilamide, the target compounds could be quantified with good repeatability, reproducibility and percent recoveries (on the average, ∼7.5%, ∼7.1% and 91%, respectively). The PC concentrations ranged <0.1-8.6 ng m−3; season dependent drug profiles could be observed in Rome and Rende.

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