Physicochemical characterization and identification of pharmaceutical compounds present in pharmaceutical industry wastewater of Telangana State
Description
The chemical contamination of water supplies is one of the greatest problems facing humanity in the twenty-first century. The bioactivity and high solubility of pharmaceuticals and personal care items set them apart from other growing chemical contaminants in the environment. They might also have negative effects on people's and other living things' health. Drugs are released into the environment, primarily through wastewater, and eventually end up in surface and ground water. Despite this, compared to other chemical pollutants, medications got less attention as environmental contaminants (e.g. heavy metals and pesticides). Investigating the presence of some of the most often prescribed medications from a contaminated Lake Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad at locations connected to industrial discharges was the goal of this work. In order to achieve this, wastewater samples from the location were taken twice a week for four months, during which time the substances were identified using tandem LC-MS. In the influents and effluents of the contaminated Hussain Sagar Lake, a total of five (5) medicines have been discovered in amounts over the limit of detection. The investigated medicines' low amounts in the wastewater were found to be consistent with expectations. Ibuprofen (98.5 ng/mL) had the highest concentration, followed by diclofenac (31.4 ng/mL), levofloxacin (18.5 ng/mL), metrinidazole (11.4 ng/mL), and paracetamol (4.03 ng/mL). With a concentration range of 4.03-98.5 ng/mL, it is interesting to note that the levels of these medicines in the PIW did not significantly differ from those discovered in the untreated wastewater (influents). The findings of this study, which are corroborated by numerous other investigations, show that existing conventional wastewater treatment techniques are ineffective at removing such a large group of active and potentially dangerous contaminants from wastewater.