Determination of pharmaceutical active compounds in Ceyhan River, Turkey: Seasonal, spatial variations and environmental risk assessment

ABSTRACTPharmaceutical pollution has gained attention with the development of analytical technology. The occurrence of 91 pharmaceutically active compounds from variety of drug groups including pain killers, antimicrobials, cardiovascular drugs, hypolipidemic drugs, central nervous system drugs, and stimulants was investigated in Ceyhan River, Turkey. Pharmaceutically active compounds were examined at 9 stations, seasonally during the periods of September 2013–August 2014. For the pharmaceutically active compound analysis, solid phase extraction (SPE) method was used and measured by using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Highest measured pharmaceutically active compound concentration was caffeine (4880.00 ng/L). Other high concentrated pharmaceuticals were diazepam (374.00 ng/L), gabapentin (355.00 ng/L), lidocaine (48.70 ng/L), etodolac (47.35 ng/L), metoprolol (43.60 ng/L), carbamazepine (24.25 ng/L), diclofenac (17.60 ng/L), and fluconazole (15.95 ng/L). Carbamazepine and lido...