Investigation of the Environmental Transport of Human Pharmaceuticals to Surface Water: A Case Study of Persistence of Pharmaceuticals in Effluent of Sewage Treatment Plants and Hospitals in Malaysia

The present work reports the occurrence and monitoring of 11 pharmaceuticals (i.e., caffeine, prazosin, enalapril, carbamazepine, nifedipine, gliclazide, levonorgestrel, simvastatin, hydrochlorothiazide, diclofenac-Na and mefenamic acid) in surface water and in the influent and effluent of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and hospitals (HSPs). A total of 105 water samples were analyzed using solid-phase extraction combined with liquid chromatography-time-of-flight/mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-TOF/MS). The mean concentrations of the detected pharmaceuticals in STP influent and effluent ranged from