Suspect and Nontarget Screening of Pharmaceuticals in Water and Wastewater Matrices

Abstract

Pharmaceutical compounds are nowadays ubiquitously detected in various environmental compartments around the world. As these compounds are present as complex mixtures and numerous other natural and anthropogenic chemicals, their transformation products (TPs), possible bio-conjugated counterparts, and their detection, quantification, and risk assessment prove extremely difficult. Recent advancements in mass spectrometry coupled with liquid chromatography (LC-MS) have enabled the detection of polar compounds with better reliability, precision, and accuracy. However, detecting trace levels of pharmaceuticals from complex matrices requires highly sensitive and selective techniques and sophisticated sample preparation steps to avoid analyte loss during sample preparation or in transit. Additionally, target analysis involves the use of expensive pharmaceutical standards and the corresponding isotope-labelled internal standards (ISs). Hence, before target analysis, it is much more viable to conduct suspect or nontarget analyses to obtain a more holistic understanding of the nature and composition of such contaminants present in environmental samples. This chapter aims to compare and compile the recent trends in suspect and nontarget screening of pharmaceuticals present in the water and wastewater matrices. Detailed information on the various mass banks, mass analyzers, and workflows for the screening of such contaminants are discussed here in detail.