Simultaneous determination of pharmaceuticals and metabolites in fish tissue by QuEChERS extraction and UHPLC Q/Orbitrap MS analysis

Target and suspect screening approaches for the identification of emerging and other contaminants in fish feeds using high resolution mass spectrometry

Fish feed is essential in aquaculture fish production because, along with beneficial nutrients and components, many suspected compounds can be transferred to fish and ultimately to humans. In this context, a comprehensive analysis was conducted to monitor various pesticides and pharmaceutical compounds in aquaculture fish feed through target analysis and many other groups of chemicals via suspect screening approaches. In this study, the QuEChERS extraction method was optimized, validated, and applied to fifty-four fish feed samples collected from different production batches. This was followed by liquid chromatography-high-resolution linear ion trap/Orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-HR-IT/Orbitrap-MS) for targeted and suspect screening purposes. In general, pesticides provided satisfactory recoveries (70-105.5 %), with quantification limits lower than 5 ng g-1, whereas pharmaceuticals displayed recoveries ranging from 70.5 to 120.2 %, with quantification limits below 25 ng g-1. In addition, the matrix effects and measurement uncertainty were assessed to provide more accurate and high-confidence results. Pirimiphos-methyl was detected and quantified in 20 of 54 fish feed samples (37 %) at concentrations <77 ng g-1. Finally, suspect screening revealed the occurrence of 10 mycotoxins (e.g., citrinin, aflatoxin G2, zearalenone, and alternariol), two pesticides excluding the target pesticides (tebuconazole and fenazaquin), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in almost 2 % of the samples, and ethoxyquin (antioxidant), with 12 of its Transformation Products (TPs). Finally, suspect analysis incorporated in routine analyses have proven to have great potential for complete monitoring.

Extraction method for the multiresidue analysis of legacy and emerging pollutants in marine mussels from the Adriatic Sea

The release of hazardous chemicals into aquatic environments has long been a known problem, but its full impact has only recently been realized. This study presents a validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method for detecting pharmaceutical and pesticide residues in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis). An innovative MS-compatible extraction method was developed and validated, demonstrating successful recovery rates for analytes at three different concentration levels (25-95%). The method detected the target analytes at ng/g concentrations with high accuracy (-7% to 11%) and low relative standard deviation (<10%) for both intra-day and inter-day analyses. After validation, the method was applied to mussel samples collected from a commercial farm near Senigallia, Adriatic Sea, detecting different contaminants in the range of 2-40 ng/g (dry weight). The study provides a valuable tool for investigating the potential threats posed by diverse contaminant classes with high annual tonnage, including analytes with known persistence and/or illegal status.

Determination of pharmaceuticals and metabolites in sludge and hydrochar after hydrothermal carbonization using sonication-QuEChERS extraction method and UHPLC LTQ/Orbitrap MS

Pharmaceuticals (PhACs) are an important group of emerging contaminants that are released continuously in the environment from wastewater treatments plants (WWTPs). They can produce biological effects even though at very low concentrations. Conventional WWTPs are not able to remove or degrade completely emerging pollutants resulting in the presence of PhACs in sewage sludge after wastewater treatment. PhACs are found in sludge at low ppb-ppt levels, and their analysis and detection is a difficult task due to the complexity of sewage sludge matrices. Hydrothermal carbonization is currently being proposed as a suitable conversion technology for sewage sludge management to recover valuable products and to be used for soil amendment. In this work, a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS)-based methodology with a dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) clean-up followed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution linear ion trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-LTQ/Orbitrap MS), operated in positive ionization mode, was adopted to investigate 33 multiclass pharmaceuticals in sewage sludge and in hydrochar produced after hydrothermal carbonization. The analytical method was first optimized studying various extraction parameters and finally validated in terms of linearity, recovery, intra and inter-day precisions, expanded uncertainty (%U)/Horrat ratio at three spiking levels, matrix-effects (ME), process efficiency (PE), and limits of detection and quantification. The developed methodology fulfilled all analytical requirements and was finally applied to sludge samples from the WWTP of Ioannina city where a group of antibiotics was detected at concentrations up to 15 ng g^-1 and psychiatric drugs such as amisulpride, clozapine, and citalopram were detected at higher concentration levels up to 205, 87.4 and 63.2 ng g^-1, respectively. The method was also applied to hydrothermally treated sludge sample under different reaction conditions. Most of the antibiotic compounds were not detected, and several psychiatric drugs such as mirtazapine, bupropion, valsartan, diazepam, and caffeine were found at concentrations below the LOQ.

An Overview of Analytical Methods to Determine Pharmaceutical Active Compounds in Aquatic Organisms

There is increasing scientific evidence that some pharmaceuticals are present in the marine ecosystems at concentrations that may cause adverse effects on the organisms that inhabit them. At present, there is still very little scientific literature on the (bio)accumulation of these compounds in different species, let alone on the relationship between the presence of these compounds and the adverse effects they produce. However, attempts have been made to optimize and validate analytical methods for the determination of residues of pharmaceuticals in marine biota by studying the stages of sample treatment, sample clean-up and subsequent analysis. The proposed bibliographic review includes a summary of the most commonly techniques, and its analytical features, proposed to determine pharmaceutical compounds in aquatic organisms at different levels of the trophic chain in the last 10 years.

Health effects and risks associated with the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in marine organisms and seafood

Pharmaceuticals and their metabolites are continuously invading the marine environment due to their input from the land such as their disposal into the drains and sewers which is mostly followed by their transfer into wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Their incomplete removal in WWTPs introduces pharmaceuticals into oceans and surface water. To date, various pharmaceuticals and their metabolites have been detected in marine environment. Their occurrence in marine organisms raises concerns regarding toxic effects and development of drug resistant genes. Therefore, it is crucial to review the health effects and risks associated with the presence of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in marine organisms and seafood. This is an important study area which is related to the availability of seafood and its quality. Hence, this study provides a critical review of the information available in literature which relates to the occurrence and toxic effects of pharmaceuticals in marine organisms and seafood. This was initiated through conducting a literature search focussing on articles investigating the occurrence and effects of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in marine organisms and seafood. In general, most studies on the monitoring of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in marine environment are conducted in well developed countries such as Europe while research in developing countries is still limited. Pharmaceuticals present in freshwater are mostly found in seawater and marine organisms. Furthermore, the toxicity caused by different pharmaceutical mixtures was observed to be more severe than that of individual compounds.