Determination of pharmaceutical compounds in surface and underground water by solid phase extraction-liquid chromatography

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by high performance liquid chromatography method was used for extraction and analysis of 4 pharmaceutical residues (Diclofenac, Chloroquine, Paracetamol and Ciprofloxacine HCl) in environmental water samples. This method was successfully applied to environmental water samples from Sango-Ota, a high industrial community in Ogun State, Nigeria, for the determination of the targeted pharmaceutical residues. The four calibration curves obtained were all linear with a correlation coefficient ranging from 0.997-0.999. Over-all average concentrations of the targeted pharmaceutical residues were 17.25, 5.01, 2.57 and 0.86 µg/L respectively. These results confirm the presence of such residues in our environment, hence, emphasising the need to bring to the knowledge of people, the danger of pharmaceuticals residues in the environment and the best method for the disposal of unused pharmaceuticals.   Key words:  Solid phase extraction, hplc, pharmaceuticals, groundwater, surface water.