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Faculty Advisor

Dr. Grice & Dr. Bystriansky

Abstract

Pharmaceutical contaminants in water are becoming increasingly prevalent. This could have potentially harmful effects on human health and aquatic environments, even at low concentrations. Acetaminophen, the active ingredient of Tylenol ®, was the target compound for this study, and the aim was to determine is presence and concentration in various aquatic samples in and around the city of Cádiz, Spain. It was predicted that acetaminophen would be detected in low concentrations in river water, drain outflow, University of Cádiz saltwater flow, and lagoon water, but undetectable in the University of Cádiz sink water and fountain water. The presence and concentration of acetaminophen in various water samples was determined through Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UP-LC) and Mass Spectroscopy (MS). Acetaminophen was detected at a concentration between 0.01 to 0.5 mg L-1 in each sample analyzed. This suggests that filtration mechanisms are not effective enough to remove pharmaceutical contaminants from water. The concentration was highest in the saltwater flow at the University of Cádiz and was at the lowest concentration in the public fountain water. These results convey that pharmaceuticals may be present in aquatic samples at higher concentrations than originally believed, and even sources of filtered water may contain pharmaceuticals.

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