Advanced mass spectrometric methods applied to the study of fate and removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment

This overview is of analytical methodologies based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, applied in environmental monitoring of pharmaceutical residues and their known degradation products. We also consider the ability of time-of-flight (TOF) and quadrupole-TOF instruments to provide sufficiently accurate-mass measurements and full-scan spectra for unequivocal confirmation of target compounds and investigation of their degradation products, which are either known or unknown.

We focus attention on the fate and the behavior of pharmaceutical residues during conventional and advanced wastewater treatments. Wastewater-treatment plants are designed to remove conventional pollutants (e.g., suspended solids and biodegradable organic compounds), but not low concentrations of synthetic pollutants (e.g., pharmaceutically active compounds).

Membrane bioreactor systems represent a new generation of processes that have proved to outperform conventional activated sludge treatment in terms of sludge production and effluent quality. In the past few years, there has been much attention paid to their capability for removing trace organic contaminants from sewage. This review highlights their improved performance in removing pharmaceutical residues from wastewater compared to conventional treatment.