Psychoactive drugs are a group of pharmaceuticals that are being dispensed in increasing quantities due to a developing health care system, demographic changes, increasing awareness of mental health issues and in response to the various forms of psychiatric disorders caused by the stresses of modern living. As consumption increases so does the burden placed on the environment from psychoactive pharmaceutical residues - the cycling, fate and effects of which have not yet been well recognised. The presentation given on LC-MS/MS delavnici focused on the analytical issues related to assessment of occurrence and fate of psychoactive pharmaceuticals in the aqueous environment and during water treatment. Model compounds include four leading antidepressants: escitalopram, sertraline, paroxetine and fluoxetine and three widespread benzodiazepines with tranquilizing and hypnotic effects: diazepam, bromazepam and oxazepam.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 24853799The presentation on the“EuCheMS International Conference on Chemistry and the Environment” (ICCE 2011) discussed the results of the project Z1-3677 Psychoactive pharmaceuticals and their transformation products in water treatment processes. Model compounds include four leading antidepressants: escitalopram, sertraline, paroxetine and fluoxetine and three widespread benzodiazepines with tranquilizing and hypnotic effects: diazepam, bromazepam and oxazepam. We describe two analytical methods for trace level determination in aqueous environmental matrices, discuss the results of experiments investigating the fate of diazepam and oxazepam using laboratory scale flow-through bioreactors with activated sludge under aerobic and anoxic conditions. To improve the removal of poorly biodegradable diazepam and oxazepam the aerobic and anoxic treatment are combined with abiotic experiments including photolytic and photocatalytic breakdown. Finally the aerobic-anoxic-photocatalytical treatment is coupled to the adsorption to activated carbon, where the residual pharmaceuticals are removed. In total, the sequenced treatment results in factor 100 reduction in concentration of target pharmaceuticals, which makes this technology potentially useful for treatment of pharmaceutical wastewaters, though, after a scale-up and economic feasibility studies.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 25057319