Development of Fast Analytical Techniques for the Detection Emerging Trace Contaminants in Water Bodies

Emerging contaminants are synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals or any microorganisms that are not commonly monitored in the environment but have the potential to enter the environment and cause known or suspected adverse ecological and/or human health effects. They consist of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, industrial chemicals, surfactants, and personal care products that are consistently being found in groundwater, surface water, municipal wastewater, drinking water, and food sources. They also include endocrine-disrupting compounds, analgesics, antibiotics, hormones, and a whole range of other pharmaceutical compounds including anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and antiepileptic drugs. The threat lies in the fact that the environmental and human toxicology of most of these compounds have not yet been studied and in the fact that many of these compounds are not or cannot be tested for in municipal water systems. In addition, when these contaminants pass through drinking water treatment systems, by-products are generated whose chemical properties are as yet undetermined. Biological emerging contaminants are discussed, which are also of significant concern.
A group led by Dr. Feleke Zewge and PhD students is working on the development of method for simultaneous estimation of 13 commonly used pharmaceuticals in water bodies in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a method for simultaneous estimation of selected thirteen pharmaceutical compounds in water bodies.