Simultaneous detection of three antiviral and four antibiotic compounds in source‐separated urine with liquid chromatography

An analytical method for the simultaneous screening of three antiviral agents (nevirapine, zidovudine, lamivudine), four antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, rifampicin) and one reference compound (carbamazepine) in human urine was developed. Separation was achieved with a Kinetex XB‐C₁₈ (75 × 4.6 mm, 2.6 μm) column after the extraction of pharmaceuticals from urine with SPE. Gradient elution with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 10 mM KH₂PO₄ (pH 2.5), and diode array detection with monitoring at 210 and 264 nm was applied. The developed method was validated in terms of selectivity, linearity, stability and sensitivity. Repeatability (n = 3) and between‐day precision (n = 3) revealed RSD <5%. The detection limits were estimated as 0.02–0.54 g/L (depending on compound). The method was validated for human urine and successfully applied to the simultaneous quantification of selected compounds. Strata‐X cartridges provided good recoveries ranging from 81 to 109%. The limits of detection for urine varied between 0.04 and 1.61 g/L. The method is suitable for the fast determination of selected pharmaceuticals from source‐separated urine samples for further environmental risk assessment and degradation potential evaluation. It provides a way to enhance safe nutrient recycling from wastewater streams and promotes the safe use of urine as fertiliser.