1 Introduction
In the past decades, there has been a growth in the number of published articles that
have focused on the environmental monitoring of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs (NSAIDs). Among the emerging environmental contaminants, pharmaceutically active compounds have become a growing public concern because of their
potential to cause undesirable ecological and human health effects. The concentrations of five common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac, ketoprofen,
naproxen, ibuprofen, and acetylsalicylic acid, were determined in surface waters
[1]. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a drug class FDA approved for use as
antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic agents [2]. These effects make
NSAIDs useful for the treatment of muscle pain, dysmenorrhea, arthritic conditions,
pyrexia, gout, and migraines and used as opioid-sparing agents in certain acute
trauma cases [3–5].
Diclofenac
NH
OH
O
Cl
Cl
Ibuprofen
OH
C
H 3
CH 3
C
H 3
O
Naproxen
OH
O
O
C
H 3
CH 3
O
C
H 3
OH
O
Ketoprofeno
It is believed that the water sources are contaminated with a variety of pharmaceutical compounds due to the absence of wastewater separation and limitation of
sanitation sewer systems. Most frequently, conventional treatment processes applied
at domestic wastewater treatment plants fail to remove completely pharmaceutical
substances; that is why it is very important to explore a new technology using
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R. M. Gómez-Espinosa and D. Arizmendi-Cotero