Stability of Pharmaceuticals in a Simulated Marine Environment

Abstract

In the past few decades there has been an increasing awareness of pharmaceuticals in the environment and pharmaceuticals as environmental pollutants. Pharmaceuticals find their way to the aquatic environment mostly through sewage treatment plants. The potential toxicity of pharmaceuticals is of great interest as they have been discovered in air, water, soil, sediment and biota.

The aim of the thesis was to investigate the stability of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in seawater. This was achieved by looking at the degradation of SSRIs in filtered seawater containing the marine diatoms S. marinoi and A. longicornis in monocultures. It was desirable to have a natural environment, and this was achieved by regulating parameters including light and temperature.

Liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) was used to extract and quantify the SSRIs, while ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with a tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze the samples.