Simultaneous determination of 12 pharmaceuticals in water samples by ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.
A new analytical method was developed for simultaneous determination of 12 pharmaceuticals using ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Six nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, ketoprofen, mefenamic acid, tolfenamic acid, naproxen, sulindac, and piroxicam) and six antibiotics (tinidazole, cefuroxime axetil, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadiazine, and chloramphenicol) were extracted by ultrasound-assisted DLLME using dichloromethane (800 μL) and methanol/acetonitrile (1:1, v/v, 1200 μL) as the extraction and dispersive solvents, respectively. The factors affecting the extraction efficiency, such as the type and volume of extraction and dispersive solvent, vortex and ultrasonic time, sample pH, and ionic strength, were optimized. The ultrasound-assisted process was applied to accelerate the formation of the fine cloudy solution by using a small volume of dispersive solvent, which increased the extraction efficiency and reduced the equilibrium time. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curves showed good linearity in the range of 0.04-20 ng mL-1(ciprofloxacin and sulfadiazine), 0.2-100 ng mL-1(ketoprofen, tinidazole, cefuroxime axetil, naproxen, sulfamethoxazole, and sulindac), and 1-200 ng mL-1(mefenamic acid, tolfenamic acid, piroxicam, and chloramphenicol). The LODs and LOQs of the method were in the range of 0.006-0.091 and 0.018-0.281 ng mL-1, respectively. The relative recoveries of the target analytes were in the range from 76.77 to 99.97 % with RSDs between 1.6 and 8.8 %. The developed method was successfully applied to the extraction and analysis of 12 pharmaceuticals in five kinds of water samples (drinking water, running water, river water, influent and effluent wastewater) with satisfactory results. Graphical Abstract Twelve pharmaceuticals in water samples analyted by UHPLC-MS/MS using ultrasound-assisted DLLME.
School of Applied Chemistry, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110142, China. Guanj0418@163.com.
Jin
J
Guan
School of Applied Chemistry, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110142, China.|School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China.
Chi
C
Zhang
School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China.
Yang
Y
Wang
School of Applied Chemistry, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110142, China.|School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China.
Yiguang
Y
Guo
School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China.
Peiting
P
Huang
School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China. longshanzhao@163.com.
Longshan
L
Zhao
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000032:analysis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D059625:Liquid-Liquid Extraction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Antibiotics; Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry; Ultrasound-assisted; Water samples