Studies of human and veterinary drugs' fate in environmental solid samples--analytical problems

The improvement of medical care worldwide is one of the reasons for the increasing production of pharmaceutical products. Human medicines are affordable to a greater proportion of the world's population. But a significant amount of used pharmaceuticals can create problems--accessibility to high volume production pharmaceuticals contributes to an increased contamination in the environment and the possibility of adverse effects on humans and animals. Many of these substances and their metabolites end up in the soil, sediments, and sludge. Knowledge regarding the environmental occurrence of pharmaceutical products is increasing, but information in the peer-reviewed literature regarding the fate and effects of most pharmaceuticals is limited. One of the reasons for this lack of data is that, until now, there have been few analytical methods capable of detecting these compounds at the low levels, which might be expected in the environment. This review article covers recent developments in the analysis of pharmaceuticals in environmental solid matrices (including soil, sediments, and sludge). We will report applications of different solid sample extraction methods, and current advances in liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry for detection and identification of selected drugs in sludge, soils, manure, and sediments.