Identification and quantification of 19 pharmaceutical active compounds and metabolites in hospital wastewater in Cameroon using LC/QQQ and LC/Q-TOF

Human pharmaceutical residues are a serious environmental concern. They have been reported to have eco, geno, and human toxic effects, and thus their importance as micropollutants cannot be ignored. These have been studied extensively in Europe and North America. However, African countries are still lagging behind in research on these micropollutants. In this study, the wastewaters of the University Teaching Hospital of Yaoundé (UTHY) were screened for the presence of active pharmaceutical ingredients and their metabolites. The screening was carried out using two methods: high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole analyzer (LC/QQQ) and high-performance coupled to a mass spectrometer with a time of flight analyzer (LC/Q-TOF). A total of 19 active pharmaceutical ingredients and metabolites were identified and quantified. The compounds identified include paracetamol (211.93 μg/L), ibuprofen (141 μg/L), tramadol (76 μg/L), O-demethyltramadol (141 μg/L), erythromycinanhydrate (7 μg/L), ciprofloxacin (24 μg/L), clarinthromycine (0.088 μg/L), azitromycine (0.39 μg/L), sulfamethoxazole 0.16 μg/L), trimetoprime (0.27 μg/L), caffeine (5.8 μg/L), carnamaeepine (0.94 μg/L), atenolol (0.43 μg/L), propranolol (0.3 μg/L), cimetidine (34 μg/L), hydroxy omeprazole (5 μg/L), diphenhydramine (0.38 μg/L), metformine (154 μg/L), and sucralose (13.07 μg/L).