Drug residues in water

In the same way as phytosanitary products, detergents, hydrocarbons, metals and other organic contaminants, drug residues are added to the list of substances present in the environment, as tracers and witnesses of human activity.

The concentrations of these pharmaceutical compounds vary according to the type of molecule and the category of water, ranging from nanograms per litre in surface, marine and ground waters and waters intended for human consumption, to micrograms or several hundred micrograms per litre in effluents and wastewater.

In France, but also on all continents, traces of drug residues from a dozen drug classes have been detected in surface waters at the outlet of wastewater treatment plants.

These compounds are thus recognised and integrated in the very vast family of organic micropollutants in aquatic environments, which led France to structure the first national plan on the subject.

Phytocontrol has developed a rapid and reliable direct injection analysis method that allows the detection of more than 160 drug residues in water, with QLs varying in accordance with the QLs required by the October 19, 2019 notice to approved laboratories. The latest generation technology used for this analysis allows to reach the regulatory quantification limits without any upstream preparation step. This screening integrates a large number of molecules and their metabolites, of which nearly one third are accredited by COFRAC.

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