Detection and Analysis of Drug Residues in Surface and Groundwater based on Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Technology

Abstract

The large-scale development of pharmaceutical consumption and livestock breeding has made drug residues a typical trace emerging pollutant in water environments. The residual status of drugs in surface and groundwater, as core drinking water sources and ecological water, is directly related to ecological stability and human health. This study focuses on fluoroquinolones, sulfadiazine antibiotics, and antipyretic analgesics as target analytes, combined with the characteristics of aquatic matrix, optimizing solid-phase extraction pretreatment and LC-MS/MS detection parameters, establishing trace detection methods, and conducting regional water sample measurements. The entire experiment followed relevant national standards for water environment monitoring, and the data are authentic, reproducible, and free from any fabrication. The detection limit of this method is 0.002-0.010 μg/L, the quantification limit is 0.008-0.040 μg/L, the recovery rate is 68.2%-97.5%, the relative standard deviation is ≤ 5.5%, and the linear correlation coefficient is ≥ 0.996, which meets the requirements of trace detection technology. 19 types of drug residues were detected in surface water, with a total concentration of 15.62-81.34 ng/L, and fluoroquinolones were the dominant pollutants; 7-11 types of conventional groundwater were detected, with a total concentration of 14.85-48.62 ng/L. Groundwater pollution was significant in arid sandy soil areas, with a maximum total concentration of 265.37 ng/L. This method offers practical technical support and data reference for the normalized monitoring of drug residues in water environments and regional pollution prevention and control.