Assessment of 83 pharmaceuticals in WWTP influent and effluent samples by UHPLC-MS/MS: Hourly variation

The removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is variable and some of these compounds pass these plants almost intact and others presenting a removal efficiency close to 100%. Their incomplete removal results in a continuous discharge of pharmaceuticals into the environment. To assess the profile of contamination of influents and effluents over a day, a set of 83 pharmaceuticals were evaluated hourly in a WWTP in Leiria, Portugal. The composite samples of the influent and effluent were also collected. Concentrations varied from 1 in WWTP influents, and carbamazepine, fluoxetine, sertraline the pharmaceuticals with an RQ > 1 in WWTP effluents.The Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal (FCT), FEDER under Programme PT2020 (Project UID/QUI/50006/2013-POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265) and Programme FCT–UT Austin, Emerging Technologies (Project UTAP-ICDT/CTM-NAN/0025/2014) is acknowledged for the financial funding. The authors would like to thank also the EU and FCT/UEFISCDI, Romania/The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), Sweden for funding, in the frame of the collaborative international consortium REWATER financed under the ERA-NET Cofund WaterWorks2015 Call. This ERA-NET is an integral part of the 2016 Joint Activities developed by the Water Challenges for a Changing World Joint Programme Initiative (Water JPI). The authors would like to thank the staff of WWTP for their collaboration by collecting the samples.