Determination of acidic drugs in sewage water by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry as tert.-butyldimethylsilyl derivatives

A procedure is described for the determination of five acidic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals (ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, tolfenamic acid and diclofenac) in sewage water. The analytical method involves the concentration of water samples using a solid-phase extraction polymeric sorbent, functionalized with N-vinylpyrrolidone. Analytes were eluted with ethyl acetate, derivatized using N-methyl-N-(tert.-butyldimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) and analyzed by GC–MS. Influence of time, temperature and volume of MTBSTFA in the yield of the derivatization step were studied in detail using a factorial central composite design. Quantification limits of the analytical procedure for 500 ml of sewage water ranged from 20 to 50 ng/l. Recoveries from 90 to 115% were found for sewage water samples spiked with the studied compounds at the low ng/ml level. Results obtained for real samples show the presence of ibuprofen and naproxen in both influent and effluent of a sewage water treatment plant.