Browsing by Author "Matongo, Solomon"

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    Occurrence of selected pharmaceuticals in water and sediment of Umgeni River, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    (Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2015) Matongo, Solomon; Birungi, Grace; Moodley, Brenda; Ndungu, Patrick
    Selected pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, antipyretics, a stimulant, an antiepileptic and an antipsychotic drug were determined in wastewater, surface water and sediment along the Umgeni River which is the main source of water to Durban City in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Samples were analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS/MS) after clean up and pre-concentration by solid phase extraction (SPE). At the wastewater treatment plant outlet, the antipyretic ibuprofen was detected in concentrations up to 12.94 μg/L and 15.96 ng/g in wastewater and bio-solids, respectively. The antipsychotic clozapine was detected in concentrations up to 14.43 μg/L and 18.75 ng/g in wastewater and bio-solids, respectively. Other pharmaceuticals namely sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin, metronidazole, trimethoprim, acetaminophen, caffeine and carbamazepine were also detected but in lower concentration compared to clozapine and ibuprofen (<10 μg/L or 10 ng/g). Clozapine and ibuprofen were detected at high concentrations in the surface water and sediment of Umgeni River. The highest concentration of clozapine (78.33 μg/L) was detected at the business park, while that for ibuprofen (62.0 μg/L) was detected at the point where a tributary, Msunduzi, joins Umgeni. Metronidazole was only detected in sediment, and caffeine (2243.52 ng/g) was detected at the highest concentration in the sediment at the blue lagoon sampling site. The antibiotic sulfamethoxazole was also detected in appreciable amounts up to 507.34 ng/g in the sediment at the Msunduzi tributary sampling site. The data collected implies that while insufficiently treated wastewater contributes to surface water contamination, human activities also contribute appreciably to the pharmaceutical loading of River Umgeni.
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    Pharmaceutical residues in water and sediment of Msunduzi River, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    (Chemosphere, 2015) Matongo, Solomon; Birungi, Grace; Moodley, Brenda; Ndungu, Patrick
    The little data about pharmaceutical residue contamination in African water bodies motivated our study on the occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the water and sediment of Msunduzi River in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa; and in the Darvill wastewater treatment plant found in Msunduzi catchment. Samples collected along the River and wastewater treatment plant were extracted and analysed for pharmaceutical residues selected based on statistics of drug usage in South Africa i.e. antipyretics, antibiotics, caffeine, an antiepileptic and an antipsychotic drug were determined using HPLC–MS/MS. In all the matrices investigated, the antipyretic ibuprofen had the highest concentration of up to 117 lg L 1, 84.60 lg L 1 and 659 ng g 1 in wastewater, surface water and sediment respectively. Antibiotics were detected in generally low concentrations of <10 lg L 1 in surface water samples and up to 34.50 lg L 1 in wastewater; moreover they were not completely removed during wastewater treatment. The percentage removal efficiency of the studied group was 6.55–98.00% for antipyretics, 73.33– 98.90% for antibiotics, 48.80% for the anti-epileptic drug and 86.40% for Caffeine. Clozapine exhibited a negative removal. In surface water, Henley dam exhibited a high concentration of the pharmaceutical residues and the highest concentration of metronidazole in sediment (up to 1253.50 ng g 1) detected. Metronidazole was only detected in sediment and bio-solids.