Development and validation of two multiresidue liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry methods based on a versatile extraction procedure for isolating non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs from bovine milk and muscle tissue

The main difficulties in analysing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in food and biological samples are due to the tight non-covalent interactions established with matrix proteins and the amount of occurring fatty material. The present paper describes an effective extraction procedure able to isolate fifteen NSAIDs (acetaminophen, salicylic acid, ibuprofen, diclofenac, flunixin and its metabolite 5-hydroxy-flunixin, nimesulide, phenylbutazone, meclofenamic acid, tolfenamic acid, meloxicam, carprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen and etodolac) from bovine milk and muscle tissue through two succeeding steps: (a) deproteinisation/extraction with organic solvent, essential to lower the medium dielectric constant and, therefore, to release the analytes from matrix; (b) SPE clean-up on OASIS cartridges. Lipids were easily removed during low-temperature centrifugations. The advantages of the developed procedure pertain to the efficient removal of the fat substances (very low matrix effect and high recovery yields) and its versatility, since it can be applied both to milk and muscle with few adjustments due to the diversity of the two matrices. Ion-pairing reversed-phase chromatography combined with the negative electrospray detection was able to achieve low detection capabilities (CCβs) for all analytes and, in particular, for diclofenac whose Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) in milk is 0.1 μg kg(-1). The methods were validated according to the guidelines of the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC and then applied for a small monitoring study. A number of samples showed traces of salicylic acid (SA), but its occurrence was not ascribed to a misuse of drugs (aspirin, salicylic acid) since SA, accumulating in plants in response to a pathogen attack, may be introduced into the food chain.     

Simultaneous Determination of Ceftriaxone Sodium and Non Steroidal Anti‐Inflammatory Drugs in Pharmaceutical Formulations and Human Serum by RP‐HPLC

An accurate, sensitive and least time consuming reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP‐HPLC) method for the estimation of ceftriaxone in the presence of non steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in formulation and human serum has been developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was conducted on prepacked Purospher Star, C18 (5 μm, 250 × 4.6 mm) column at room temperature using methanol:water:acetonitrile (80:15:5 v/v/v) as a mobile phase, pH adjusted at 2.8 with ortho‐phosphoric acid and at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/minute, while UV detection was performed at 270 nm. The results obtained showed a good agreement with the declared content. The method shows good linearity in the range of 2.5‐25 μg/mL ceftriaxone serum concentrations with a correlation coefficient 0.999 (inter‐ and intra‐day RSD < 2.0%). The limit of detection and quantification for ceftriaxone and NSAID's in pharmaceutical formulation and serum were in the range 0.51‐1.54 μg/mL. Analytical recovery was >98.1%. The proposed method may be used for the quantitative analysis of commonly administered non steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs i.e. tiaprofenic acid, naproxen sodium, flurbiprofen, diclofenac acid and mefenamic acid alone or in combination with ceftriaxone from raw materials, dosage formulations and in serum. The established HPLC method is rapid, accurate and selective, because of its sensitivity and reproducibility.     

离子液体作高效液相色谱流动相添加剂测定水杨酸

建立了以离子液体作反相高效液相色谱流动相添加剂测定水杨酸的方法.实验以ZORBAX ODS反相色谱柱为分离柱,采用紫外检测方法,研究了检测波长、离子液体烷基链长度、离子液体溶液的浓度以及pH值等对分离和测定的影响.优化的色谱条件为:以体积比60:40的甲醇-3.0 mmol/L1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑四氟硼酸盐溶液(乙酸...     

Quantitative separation of oxytocin,norfloxacin and diclofenac sodium in milk samples using capillary electrophoresis

A simple, sensitive and rapid method has been developed for simultaneous separation and quantification of three different drugs: oxytocin (OT), norfloxacin (NOR) and diclofenac (DIC) sodium in milk samples using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with UV detection at 220 nm. Factors affecting the separation were pH, concentration of buffer and applied voltage. Separation was obtained in less than 9 min with sodium tetraborate buffer of pH 10.0 and applied voltage 30 kV. The separation was carried out from uncoated fused silica capillary with effective length of 50 cm with 75 µm i.d. The carrier electrolyte gave reproducible separation with calibration plots linear over 0.15–4.0 µg/mL for OT, 5–1000 µg/mL for NOR and 3–125 µg/mL for DIC. The lower limits of detection (LOD) were found to be 50 ng/mL for OT, and 1 µg/mL for NOR and DIC. The method was validated for the analysis of drugs in milk samples and pharmaceutical preparations with recovery of drugs within the range 96–100% with RSD 0.9–2.8%. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid analysis of alkylphosphonate drugs by capillary zone electrophoresis using indirect ultraviolet detection

A rapid capillary electrophoretic method for the analysis of three alkylphosphonate drugs (i.e. fosfomycin disodium (FOS), clodronate disodium (CLO) and alendronate sodium (ALN)) was developed by using multiple probe BGE and indirect UV detection. BGE containing 30 mM benzoic acid, 5 mM salicylic acid and 0.5 mM CTAB (pH 3.8), temperature of 30°C, applied voltage of ?30 kV and detection at 220 nm provided baseline separation of all analytes (resolution (R)>2.2) in 3.2 min. EOF reversal by addition of CTAB and negative voltage polarity leading to the co‐EOF flow and short analysis time. Two probe BGE greatly improved peak symmetry. The method showed good linearity (r²>0.999 in ranges of 20–1000 μg/mL for FOS, 100–1000 μg/mL for CLO and 100–750 μg/mL for ALN) repeatablitiy (RSD<2.15%), recovery (99.3–101.1%) and sensitivity (LOD<50 μg/mL). Freshly prepared BGE and sample solutions are essential for the method precision and accuracy. This new method can be utilized for routine analysis of FOS, CLO and ALN in dosage forms because of its efficiency, reliability, speed and simplicity.     

Reverse-phase liquid chromatographic determination of α-lipoic acid in dietary supplements using a boron-doped diamond electrode

A fast liquid chromatographic separation, coupled with sensitive and straightforward detection using a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode, was developed and validated for the determination of α-lipoic acid in dietary supplement samples. The analysis was carried out using a reversed phase C18 (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column with a mobile phase consisting of a 1:1 (v/v) ratio of 0.05 M phosphate solution (pH 2.5):acetonitrile, at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection potential obtained from hydrodynamic voltammetry was 1.05 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Under optimized conditions, the chromatographic separation was performed in less than 5 min, a good linear relationship was obtained between the current and the α-lipoic concentration within the range of 0.01-60 μg/mL (correlation coefficient of 0.9971), and a detection limit of 3.0 ng/mL was determined. Furthermore, this method was successfully applied to determine α-lipoic acid concentrations in selected commercial dietary supplement samples. The recovery of α-lipoic acid in spiked samples at 0.5, 5.0 and 30 μg/mL ranged from 94.4% to 103.6% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of between 1.2% and 3.7%. In real samples, this developed methodology produced results that were highly correlated with the standard HPLC-UV approach. Therefore, the present method can be used for fast, selective and sensitive quantification of α-lipoic acid in dietary supplements.     

Large volume sample stacking with EOF and sweeping in CE for determination of common preservatives in cosmetic products by chemometric experimental design

This study proposes a capillary electrophoresis method incorporating large volume sample stacking, EOF and sweeping for detection of common preservatives used in cosmetic products. The method was developed using chemometric experimental design (fractional factorial design and central composite design) to determine multiple separation variables by efficient steps. The samples were loaded by hydrodynamic injection (10 psi, 90 s), and separated by phosphate buffer (50 mM, pH 3) containing 30% methanol and 80 mM SDS at -20 kV. During method validation, calibration curves were found to be linear over a range of 5-100 μg/mL for butyl paraben and isobutyl paraben; 0.05-10 μg/mL for ethyl paraben; 0.2-50 μg/mL for dehydroacetic acid; 0.5-70 μg/mL for methyl paraben; 5-350 μg/mL for sorbic acid; 0.02-450 μg/mL for p-hydroxybenzoic acid and 0.05-10 μg/mL for salicylic acid and benzoic acid. The analytes were analysed simultaneously and their detection limits (S/N = 3) were down to 0.005-2 μg/mL. The analysis method was successfully used for detection of preservatives used in commercial cosmetics.     

High temperature-high efficiency liquid chromatography using sub-2 μm coupled columns for the analysis of selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and veterinary antibiotics in environmental samples

A high efficiency HPLC method was developed by coupling three sub-2 μm columns in series and operating them at high temperature for the separation of selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and veterinary antibiotics in environmental samples. The separation was performed at 80 °C to reduce the solvent viscosity, thus reducing the column backpressure. The chromatographic performance of high temperature-extended column length HPLC method was used to determine the most widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and veterinary antibiotics such as sulphonamides in wastewater samples. The method could simultaneously determine 24 pharmaceuticals in short analysis time with high efficiency. The method involved pre-concentration and clean-up by solid phase extraction (SPE) using Oasis HLB extraction cartridges. It was validated based on linearity, precision, detection and quantification limits, selectivity and accuracy. Good recoveries were obtained for all analytes ranging from 72.7% to 98.2% with standard deviations not higher than 6%, except for acetaminophen and acetyl salicylic acid, for which low recovery was obtained. The detection limits of the studied pharmaceuticals ranged from 2 to 16 μg L⁻¹, while limits of quantification were in the range from 7 to 54 μg L⁻¹ with UV detection.     

Determination of fourteen non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in animal serum and plasma by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

The European Union has regulated the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in animal production and requires its member states to detect their residues in different matrices. In this work, a detailed MS and MS/MS study by ion-trap mass spectrometry of fourteen NSAIDs is described. Two multi-residue reversed-phase LC/ESI-MS/MS methods were developed, one for the determination of salicylic acid, naproxen, carprofen, flurbiprofen, ibuprofen, niflumic acid and meclofenamic acid in the negative ion mode, and the other for the determination of ketoprofen, suxibutazone, diclofenac, mefenamic acid, tolfenamic acid, phenylbutazone and its metabolite oxyphenbutazone in the positive ion mode. It was thus possible to confirm up to 14 different NSAID residues in serum and plasma samples of farmed animals, after chromatographic separation by a linear gradient. These substances were chosen as representative of different chemical subclasses of NSAIDs. The two methods were also validated in-house at three contamination levels, evaluating specificity and calculating mean recoveries, repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility. The MS/MS product ion spectra were successfully used for the qualitative identification of all the drugs tested. All the NSAIDs, apart from salicylic acid, were recovered in high amounts, ranging between 71.6% and 100.9%.     

HPLC separation of acetaminophen and its impurities using a mixed-mode reversed-phase/cation exchange stationary phase

Determination of acetaminophen and its main impurities: 4-nitrophenol, 4'-chloroacetanilide, as well as 4-aminophenol and its degradation products, p-benzoquinone and hydroquinone has been developed and validated by a new high-performance liquid chromatography method. Chromatographic separation has been obtained on a Hypersil Duet C18/SCX column, using gradient elution, with a mixture of phosphate buffer (pH = 4.88) and methanol as a mobile phase. Analysis time did not exceed 14.5 min and good resolutions, peak shapes and asymmetries have resulted. The linearity of the method has been tested in the range of 5.0-60 μg/mL for acetaminophen and 0.5-6 μg/mL for the other compounds. The limits of detection and quantification have been also established to be lower than 0.1 μg/mL and 0.5 μg/mL, respectively. The method has been successfully applied for the analysis of commercial acetaminophen preparations.     

Determination of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in Natural Waters Using Off-Line and On-Line SPE Followed by LC Coupled with DAD-MS

Two different procedures for simultaneous determination of six NSAIDs (diflunisal, diclofenac, fenoprofen, ibuprofen, naproxen and tolmetin) in environmental waters are described. Final analysis of target compounds is performed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography – diode array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD and LC-MS), whereas sample preparation is based on solid-phase extraction (SPE). A variety of sorbents and their respective advantages and disadvantages are discussed. For the off-line SPE of NSAIDs from water samples, a LiChrolut RP-18 was selected out of all investigated sorbents. In case of on-line coupling of SPE with chromatographic system LiChrosphere RP-18 was selected as the best one in terms of recovery of NSAIDs evaluated, RSD and availability. The applicability of the method was also evaluated. Method detection limits were in the range of 0.7−94 ng L⁻¹. Recoveries ranged from 96 to 109% and relative standard deviations were lower than 5%. The procedures were shown to be linear over a wide range of concentration, exhibited satisfactory repeatability and accuracy, and reached limits of detection in the low ng L⁻¹ range. No breakthrough volume was observed neither for off-line SPE (in the studied range of 100, 200, 300, 500, 700, 1000 and 2000 mL of tap water sample) nor for on-line SPE (in the wide range of 10 mL, 20 mL, 30 mL, 50 mL, 70 mL, 100 mL and 200 mL of tap water sample).     

Simultaneous Quantitation of Captopril and NSAID's in API,Dosage Formulations and Human Serum by RP‐HPLC

An accurate, sensitive and least time consuming reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP‐HPLC) method for the estimation of captopril in the presence of non steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in formulation and human serum has been developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was conducted on prepacked Purospher star C18 (5 μm, 25 × 0.46 cm) column at room temperature using methanol:water (80:20 v/v) as a mobile phase, pH adjusted at 2.8 with o‐phosphoric acid and at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min⁻¹, while UV detection was performed at 227 nm. The limit of detection and quantification for captopril were 1 and 0.35 ng mL⁻¹, while that for (NSAID's) i.e. flurbiprofen, ibuprofen, diclofenac sodium and mefenamic acid LOD were 0.2, 1, 2 and 0.4 ng mL⁻¹ respectively and LOQ were 0.9, 2.9, 8 and 1 ng mL⁻¹ Analytical recovery was > 98.1%. The method used for the quantitative analysis of commonly administered non steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) i.e. ibuprofen, flurbiprofen, diclofenac sodium and mefenamic acid alone or in combination with captopril from API (active pharmaceutical ingredients), dosage formulations and in human serum. The established method is rapid (RT < 12 min), accurate (recovery > 98.1%), selective (no interference of excepients and other commonly used drugs and food) and sensitive (LOQ 3.5 ng mL^;‐1) and reproducible (SD ± 0.003).     

A Simple Electrochemical Method for the Quantitative Determination of Acetaminophen in Serum

Abstract

A simple electrochemical method for the determination of acetaminophen in serum is described. The eleotrode and associated electronics are simple, reliable, and inexpensive to build. The apparatus can be operated at a rate of 2–3 determinations per minute using only 10 μl serum per determination. The procedure includes extraction of acetaminophen in ethyl acetate and subsequent oxidative amperometric detection of the drug by a form of flow-injection analysis. The system parameters of buffer, pH, and redox potential have been optimized to permit measurement of less than 10 μg/ml of acetaminophen. The determination is linear over the range of 10–300 μg/ml with a C.V. of less than 3% for replicate analysis of the same sample.     

Determination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and their metabolites in milk by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are widely used for treatment of animals. According to Council Directive 96/23/EC, residues of these drugs must be monitored because of the potential risk they pose to the consumers' health. For this reason an LC-MS-MS method was developed for detection of wide range of NSAIDs, including both "acidic" NSAIDs (carprofen, diclofenac, flunixin, meloxicam, phenylbutazone, oxyphenbutazone, tolfenamic acid, mefenamic acid, naproxen, ketoprofen, ibuprofen, firocoxib, rofecoxib, and celecoxib) and "basic" NSAIDs (four metamizole metabolites). Analytes were extracted from milk samples with acetonitrile in the presence of ammonium acetate. One portion of the extract was directly analyzed for the presence of metamizole metabolites; a second portion was cleaned with an amino cartridge. All NSAIDs were separated on a Phenomenex Luna C8(2) column and analyzed by LC-MS-MS in negative (acidic NSAIDs) and positive (metamizole metabolites) ion modes. The method was validated in accordance with the requirements of Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. Within-laboratory reproducibility was in the range 7-28%, and accuracy was in the range 71-116%. The method enabled detection of all the analytes with the expected sensitivity, below the recommended concentrations. The method fulfills the criteria for confirmatory methods and, because of its efficiency, may also be used for screening purposes. The procedure was also successfully verified in the proficiency test organized by EU-RL in 2010. As far as the authors are aware, this is one of the first methods capable of detecting diclofenac residues below the MRL in milk (0.1 μg kg(-1)). An additional advantage is the possibility of simultaneous determination of "acidic" NSAIDs and metamizole metabolites.     

Multi-residue determination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug residues in animal serum and plasma by HPLC and photo-diode array detection

The European Union regulated the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in animal production and set the official analytical controls to detect their residues in plasma, serum, and milk within the frame of national monitoring programs in each member state. In this work, a multi-residue reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (DAD) method is described for the simultaneous determination of 13 NSAIDs in serum and plasma of farm animals. Chromatographic separation by a C12 stationary phase column with a linear gradient is able to resolve all the compounds considered: salicylic acid, ketoprofen, flurbiprofen, phenylbutazone and its metabolite (oxyphenbutazone), carprofen, ibuprofen, naproxen, niflumic acid, suxibutazone, diclofenac, mefenamic acid, and tolfenamic acid. These compounds are chosen as the most representative of the different NSAID chemical sub-classes. The DAD analysis allows the confirmation of all drugs on the basis of their own UV-vis spectrum, according to the requirements of the European Council Decision 2002/657/EC. Moreover, the method is in-house validated, evaluating mean recoveries, specificity, repeatability, and within-laboratory reproducibility as the performance parameters required by the Decision. The results of this study indicate the method is specific and repeatable, with the mean percentage recoveries of the drugs ranging between 72.5% and 104.5%. Only salicylic acid has poor recovery, with results ranging between 36.3% and 54.9%.     

Rapid analysis of anthracycline antibiotics doxorubicin and daunorubicin by microchip capillary electrophoresis

A simple and rapid method has been developed for the analysis of anthracycline antibiotics doxorubicin (DOX) and daunorubicin (DAU) in human serum using mirochip-based capillary electrophoresis (CE) with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. In this study, method development included studies of the effect of buffer pH, buffer concentration, organic solvents and separation voltage on sensitivity and separation efficiencies for the CE separation of DOX and DAU. Acetonitrile was found to have significantly improved the sensitivity and separation efficiency. The method was validated with regard to reproducibilities, linearity and limit of detection (LOD). The optimum electrophoretic separation conditions were 10 mM sodium tetraborate buffer at pH 9.5 with 40% acetonitrile (V/V) and a separation voltage of 2.1 kV. DOX and DAU were separated in 60 s under the optimum separation conditions. Linear relationships were obtained between the concentration and peak area (or peak height) in the 1–75 µg mL^{− 1} range and with the detection limits of 0.3 and 0.2 μg mL^{− 1} for DOX and DAU, respectively. The stability of both migration time and peak height of the analytes showed relative standard deviations of less than 5% (n = 9). The potential of this method was verified by spiking a human serum sample with the two drugs and analyzing the recovery ratios.     

HPLC analysis of in vivo intestinal absorption and oxidative metabolism of salicylic acid in the rat

In vivo absorption and oxidative metabolism of salicylic acid in rat small intestine was studied by luminal perfusion experiment. Perfusion through the lumen of proximal jejunum with isotonic medium containing 250 μm sodium salicylate was carried out. Absorption of salicylate was measured by a validated HPLC‐DAD method which was evaluated for a number of validation characteristics (specificity, repeatability and intermediate precision, limit of detection, limit of quantification, linearity and accuracy). The method was linear over the concentration range 0.5–50 μg/mL. After liquid–liquid extraction of the perfusion samples oxidative biotransformation of salicylate was also investigated by HPLC‐MS. The method was linear over the concentration range 0.25–5.0 μg/mL. Two hydroxylated metabolites of salicylic acid (2,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid and 2,3‐dihydroxybenzoic acid) were detected and identified. The mean recovery of extraction was 72.4% for 2,3‐DHB, 72.5% for 2,5‐DHB and 50.1% for salicylic acid, respectively. The methods were successfully applied to investigate jejunal absorption and oxidative metabolism of sodium salicylate in experimental animals. The methods provide analytical background for further metabolic studies of salycilates under modified physiological conditions.     

Confirmatory identification of sixteen non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug residues in raw milk by liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap mass spectrometry

The European Council Decision 2002/657/EC established that group B substances detected in foods must be identified and confirmed on the basis of their molecular structure. To this aim, we have developed a panel of methods for unambiguous determination of sixteen non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in cattle and buffalo raw milk. A multi-residue reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method with photodiode array detection is described for quantitative screening analysis. For confirmatory purposes, two multi-residue reversed-phase ion trap liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) methods were developed: the former to identify salicylic acid, naproxen, carprofen, flurbiprofen, ibuprofen, meclofenamic acid, niflumic acid, flunixin and its metabolite 5-hydroxyflunixin in the negative ion mode; the latter to identify ketoprofen, suxibutazone, diclofenac, mefenamic acid, tolfenamic acid, phenylbutazone and its metabolite oxyphenbutazone in the positive ion mode. These drugs are representative of different subclasses of NSAIDs not chemically related. The methods were in-house validated, evaluating specificity and calculating the mean recoveries, repeatability, within-laboratory reproducibility, and limits of quantification. For all the NSAIDs, apart from salicylic acid and 5-hydroxyflunixin, mean recoveries ranging between 69.0% and 96.7% were measured. The qualitative identification of all drugs was attained by their MS/MS spectra in the concentration range studied. Similarly, at 5 microg/kg all NSAIDs, apart from flurbiprofen, were unambiguously confirmed.     

Electromembrane extraction (EME) and HPLC determination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in wastewater samples

In this paper, an electromembrane extraction (EME) combined with a HPLC procedure using diode array (DAD) and fluorescence detection (FLD) has been developed for the determination of six widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): salicylic acid (SAC), ketorolac (KTR), ketoprofen (KTP), naproxen (NAX), diclofenac (DIC) and ibuprofen (IBU). The drugs were extracted from basic aqueous sample solutions, through a supported liquid membrane (SLM) consisting of 1-octanol impregnated in the walls of a S6/2 Accurel^® polypropylene hollow fiber, and into a basic aqueous acceptor solution resent inside the lumen of the hollow fiber with a potential difference of 10 V applied over the SLM. Extractions that were carried out in 10 min using a potential of 10 V from pH 12 NaOH aqueous solutions shown concentration enrichments factors of 28-49 in a pH 12 NaOH aqueous acceptor solution. The proposed method was successfully applied to urban wastewaters. Excellent selectivity was demonstrated as no interfering peaks were detected. The procedure allows very low detection and quantitation limits of 0.0009-9.0 and 0.003-11.1 μg L⁻¹, respectively.     

Rapid determination of NSAIDs by capillary and microchip electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection in wastewater

A simple, rapid method using CE and microchip electrophoresis with C⁴D has been developed for the separation of four nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the environmental sample. The investigated compounds were ibuprofen (IB), ketoprofen (KET), acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), and diclofenac sodium (DIC). In the present study, we applied for the first time microchip electrophoresis with C⁴D detection to the separation and detection of ASA, IB, DIC, and KET in the wastewater matrix. Under optimum conditions, the four NSAIDs compounds could be well separated in less than 1 min in a BGE composed of 20 mM His/15 mM Tris, pH 8.6, 2 mM hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, and 10% methanol (v/v) at a separation voltage of 1000–1200 V. The proposed method showed excellent repeatability, good sensitivity (LODs ranging between 0.156 and 0.6 mg/L), low cost, high sample throughputs, portable instrumentation for mobile deployment, and extremely lower reagent and sample consumption. The developed method was applied to the analysis of pharmaceuticals in wastewater samples with satisfactory recoveries ranging from 62.5% to 118%.