Pressurized liquid extraction followed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry to determine pharmaceuticals in mussels

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in the Aquatic Environment and Bivalves: The State of the Art

In recent years, contaminants of emerging concern have been reported in several environmental matrices due to advances in analytical methodologies. These anthropogenic micropollutants are detected at residual levels, representing an ecotoxicological threat to aquatic ecosystems. In particular, the pharmacotherapeutic group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) is one of the most prescribed and used, as well as one of the most frequently detected in the aquatic environment. Bivalves have several benefits as a foodstuff, and also as an environment bioindicator species. Therefore, they are regarded as an ideal tool to assess this issue from both ecotoxicological and food safety perspectives. Thus, the control of these residues in bivalves is extremely important to safeguard environmental health, also ensuring food safety and public health. This paper aims to review NSAIDs in bivalves, observing their consumption, physicochemical characteristics, and mechanisms of action; their environmental occurrence in the aquatic environment and aquatic biota; and their effects on the ecosystem and the existent legal framework. A review of the analytical methodologies for the determination of NSAIDs in bivalves is also presented.

Selective determination of 2-aminobenzothiazole in environmental water and organic extracts from fish and dust samples

In the present study, a homemade mixed-mode ion-exchange sorbent based on silica with embedded graphene microparticles is applied for the selective extraction of 2-aminobenzothiazole (NH2BT) followed by determination through liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry. The sorbent was evaluated for the solid-phase extraction of NH2BT from environmental water samples (river, effluent wastewater, and influent wastewater), and NH2BT was strongly retained through the selective cation-exchange interactions. Therefore, the inclusion of a clean-up step of 7 mL of methanol provided good selectivity for the extraction of NH2BT. The apparent recoveries obtained for environmental water samples ranged from 62 to 69% and the matrix effect from -1 to -14%. The sorbent was also evaluated in the clean-up step of the organic extract for the extraction of NH2BT from organic extracts of indoor dust samples (10 mL of ethyl acetate from pressurized liquid extraction) and fish (10 mL of acetonitrile from QuEChERS extraction). The organic extracts were acidified (adding a 0.1% of formic acid) to promote the cation-exchange interactions between the sorbent and the analyte. The apparent recoveries for fish samples ranged from 22 to 36% depending on the species. In the case of indoor dust samples, the recovery was 41%. It should be highlighted the low matrix effect encountered in such complex samples, with values ranging from -7 to 5% for fish and dust samples. Finally, various samples were analyzed. The concentration in river samples ranged from 31 to 136 ng/L; in effluent wastewater samples, from 55 to 191 ng/L; in influent wastewater samples, from 131 to 549 ng/L; in fish samples, from 14 to 57 ng/g dried weight; and in indoor dust samples, from  Collapse

Key Words

• Clean-up
• Complex water samples
• Dust
• Fish
• Homemade mixed-mode ion-exchange sorbent
• Selective solid-phase extraction

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MESH Headings

• Animals
• Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods
• Wastewater
• Water/analysis
• Dust/analysis
• Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis
• Solid Phase Extraction/methods
• Fishes
• Cations/analysis

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Grants

• 2020PMF-PIPF-33 Universitat Rovira i Virgili
• PID2020-114587GB-I00 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

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Affiliation(s)

Alberto Moral Department of Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sescelades Campus, Marcel·lí Domingo 1, 43007, Tarragona, Spain
Francesc Borrull Department of Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sescelades Campus, Marcel·lí Domingo 1, 43007, Tarragona, Spain
Kenneth G Furton Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, International Forensic Research Institute, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
Abuzar Kabir Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, International Forensic Research Institute, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
Núria Fontanals Department of Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sescelades Campus, Marcel·lí Domingo 1, 43007, Tarragona, Spain.
Rosa Maria Marcé Department of Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sescelades Campus, Marcel·lí Domingo 1, 43007, Tarragona, Spain

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Pressurized Liquid Extraction: A Powerful Tool to Implement Extraction and Purification of Food Contaminants

Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) is considered an advanced extraction technique developed in the mid-1990s with the aim of saving time and reducing solvent with respect to traditional extraction processes. It is commonly used with solid and semi-solid samples and employs solvent extraction at elevated temperatures and pressures, always below the respective critical points, to maintain the solvent in a liquid state throughout the extraction procedure. The use of these particular pressure and temperature conditions changes the physicochemical properties of the extraction solvent, allowing easier and deeper penetration into the matrix to be extracted. Furthermore, the possibility to combine the extraction and clean-up steps by including a layer of an adsorbent retaining interfering compounds directly in the PLE extraction cells makes this technique extremely versatile and selective. After providing a background on the PLE technique and parameters to be optimized, the present review focuses on recent applications (published in the past 10 years) in the field of food contaminants. In particular, applications related to the extraction of environmental and processing contaminants, pesticides, residues of veterinary drugs, mycotoxins, parabens, ethyl carbamate, and fatty acid esters of 3-monochloro-1,2-propanediol and 2-monochloro-1,3-propanediol from different food matrices were considered.

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.

Evaluation of uptake of the cytostatic methotrexate in Elliptio complanata mussels by LC-MS/MS

Aquatic organisms are continuously exposed to emerging contaminants coming from urban effluents of wastewater treatment plants. The contamination of surface water by those effluents poses a number of environmental risks, and pharmaceuticals are part of this class of effluent contaminants. Various classes of pharmaceuticals are not treated by wastewater treatment plants and anticancer drugs are part of them. The chemotherapy drug methotrexate (MTX) is an emerging contaminant and its growing use with the increase in cancer cases worldwide raises potential risk to aquatic organisms exposed to effluent discharges. However, chemical analyses in exposed freshwater aquatic organisms for ecotoxicological studies are rarely available and no studies have been done yet to accompany ecotoxicological data of exposed filter-feeding organisms. The purpose of this study was to develop a specific and sensitive analytical LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of methotrexate uptake in mussels exposed at different concentrations of the drug. A solid/liquid extraction followed by solid phase extraction (SPE) using an MCX phase purification scheme was optimized. The optimal recovery of 65% and matrix effect of 38% allowed to achieve a limit of quantification of 0.25 ng g-1, with an accuracy of 99-106%, a precision of no more than 3% RSD, and linearity ranging from 0.25 to 25 ng g-1. This methodology was tested with mussels exposed for 96 h at different concentrations (4 to 100 µg L-1) of MTX. The data revealed tissue uptake at concentrations ranging from 0 to 2.53 ng g-1. This suggests that this drug has low uptake potential and this methodology could be used to examine tissue levels of this drug in organisms continuously exposed to urban pollution.

Overview of Sample Preparation and Chromatographic Methods to Analysis Pharmaceutical Active Compounds in Waters Matrices

In the environment, pharmaceutical residues are a field of particular interest due to the adverse effects to either human health or aquatic and soil environment. Because of the diversity of these compounds, at least 3000 substances were identified and categorized into 49 different therapeutic classes, and several actions are urgently required at multiple steps, the main ones: (i) occurrence studies of pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) in the water cycle; (ii) the analysis of the potential impact of their introduction into the aquatic environment; (iii) the removal/degradation of the pharmaceutical compounds; and, (iv) the development of more sensible and selective analytical methods to their monitorization. This review aims to present the current state-of-the-art sample preparation methods and chromatographic analysis applied to the study of PhACs in water matrices by pinpointing their advantages and drawbacks. Because it is almost impossible to be comprehensive in all PhACs, instruments, extraction techniques, and applications, this overview focuses on works that were published in the last ten years, mainly those applicable to water matrices.

Application of Nanostructured Carbon-Based Electrochemical (Bio)Sensors for Screening of Emerging Pharmaceutical Pollutants in Waters and Aquatic Species: A Review

Pharmaceuticals, as a contaminant of emergent concern, are being released uncontrollably into the environment potentially causing hazardous effects to aquatic ecosystems and consequently to human health. In the absence of well-established monitoring programs, one can only imagine the full extent of this problem and so there is an urgent need for the development of extremely sensitive, portable, and low-cost devices to perform analysis. Carbon-based nanomaterials are the most used nanostructures in (bio)sensors construction attributed to their facile and well-characterized production methods, commercial availability, reduced cost, high chemical stability, and low toxicity. However, most importantly, their relatively good conductivity enabling appropriate electron transfer rates-as well as their high surface area yielding attachment and extraordinary loading capacity for biomolecules-have been relevant and desirable features, justifying the key role that they have been playing, and will continue to play, in electrochemical (bio)sensor development. The present review outlines the contribution of carbon nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes, graphene, fullerene, carbon nanofibers, carbon black, carbon nanopowder, biochar nanoparticles, and graphite oxide), used alone or combined with other (nano)materials, to the field of environmental (bio)sensing, and more specifically, to pharmaceutical pollutants analysis in waters and aquatic species. The main trends of this field of research are also addressed.

Occurrences, levels and risk assessment studies of emerging pollutants (pharmaceuticals, perfluoroalkyl and endocrine disrupting compounds) in fish samples from Kalk Bay harbour, South Africa

A comprehensive analysis of 15 target chemical compounds (pharmaceuticals and personal care product, perfluoroalkyl compounds and industrial chemicals) were carried out to determine their concentrations in selected commercially exploited, wild caught small and medium sized pelagic fish species and their organs (Thyrsites atun (snoek), Sarda orientalis (bonito), Pachymetopon blochii (panga) and Pterogymnus laniarius (hottentot)) obtained from Kalk Bay harbour, Cape Town. Solid phase extraction (SPE) method based on Oasis HLB cartridges were used to concentrate and clean-up the samples. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of these chemical compounds revealed the simultaneous presence of at least 12 compounds in different parts of the selected fish species in nanogram-per-gram dry weight (ng/g dw) concentrations. The results revealed that perfluorodecanoic acid, perfluorononanoic acid and perfluoroheptanoic acid were the most predominant among the perfluorinated compounds and ranged between: (20.13-179.2 ng/g), (21.22-114.0 ng/g) and (40.06-138.3 ng/g). Also, diclofenac had the highest concentration in these edible fish species out of all the pharmaceuticals detected (range: 551.8-1812 ng/g). The risk assessment values were above 0.5 and 1.0 for acute and chronic risk respectively which shows that these chemicals have a high health risk to the pelagic fish, aquatic organisms and to humans who consume them. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a precautionary approach and the adequate regulation of the use and disposal of synthetic chemicals that persist in aquatic/marine environment in this province and other parts of South Africa, to prevent impacts on the sustainability of our marine environment, livelihood and lives.

Occurrence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, perfluorinated compounds, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in freshwater mussels from Latvia

The occurrence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorinated compounds (PFC), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in Latvian freshwater ecosystems was evaluated by using filter-feeding mussels as bioindicators. Twenty four samples of mussels were collected from freshwater bodies throughout the territory of Latvia during the summer of 2017. PBDE contamination was ubiquitous, reaching the highest total concentration of 193.2 pg g^-1 w.w. BDE-209 was the most abundant compound, followed by penta-BDE components BDE-49, -100, -99, -153, -154, and -47 in decreasing order. The levels of PFCs in Latvian mussels were generally lower than those reported from other regions. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was more common in mussels than perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Ibuprofen was the only NSAID detected in mussels during this study (detection frequency 50%). The observed concentrations of this compound varied between 0.52 and 109 ng g^-1 w.w., being noticeably higher than reported by other authors. Overall, the results indicate that among the three analysed groups of contaminants, ibuprofen is present in Latvian freshwater environment at relatively high levels and further monitoring should be carried out.

Pressurised liquid extraction and liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry to determine high-intensity sweeteners in fish samples

An analytical method based on pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) followed by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap) was developed for the simultaneous determination of ten high-intensity sweeteners in fish samples. As the method was developed, the different PLE parameters were optimised and different clean-up strategies were evaluated, of which in-cell clean-up using alumina and on-cell clean-up with hexane were the most effective. PLE recoveries were between 43% and 94%. The method quantification limits were between 12.5ngg^-1 dry weight (d.w.) and 250ngg^-1 (d.w.) and the method detection limits between 2.5ngg^-1 (d.w.) and 125ngg^-1 (d.w.). Intra-day precision and inter-day precision were below 16% and 25%, respectively. Fish samples from different species were analysed and, saccharin was found below its method quantification limit in the species Scomber scombrus (Atlantic mackerel).