Identificação da contaminação por fármacos: cloridrato de fluoxetina e losartana potássica em corpos hídricos da cidade de Caçapava do Sul - RS

Abstract

A wide class of substances forms emerging contaminants, and identifying these compounds in water bodies has raised concerns. Due to unplanned population growth and a lack of investment in sanitation services, these contaminants are often released in large quantities into the environment. One of the most researched classes of emerging contaminants in the world are the so-called drugs, produced to treat and alleviate symptoms and diseases, are metabolized by the body and consecutively excreted, thus causing the introduction and prevalence of these substances in domestic sewage, also being a means of entry into the aquatic environment due to the incorrect disposal of medicines, industrial and hospital sewage. Emerging contaminants are not legislated in Brazil, and without any monitoring, little is known about the effects of these substances on the environment in the long term. Like many municipalities, Caçapava do Sul do not have sewage treatment, so the effluent is destined for water bodies that are important for the city's water supply. For this study, a survey was carried out at the municipal pharmacy on the withdrawal of drugs in the year 2022, provided free of charge by the SUS, and two drugs showed high consumption, fluoxetine hydrochloride 20 mg from the antidepressant class and losartan potassium 50 mg of the antihypertensive class. Ina total of five points, samples from three water bodies in the south-central region of the city were analyzed by spectrophotometry in the UV-Vis region and spectrofluorimetry. UV-Vis absorbance readings were taken at 208 and 207nm for fluoxetine and losartan, respectively. Molecular fluorescence data were obtained with maximum intensity at λexc. 230nm and λem. 294nm for fluoxetine in 0.10059 mol/L hydrochloric acid solution and at λexc. 250nm and λem. 393nm for losartan in ultra-purewater solution and sulfuric acid 4.575 mol/L. The results show the presence of thetwo drugs mentioned above in all collected points, indicating contamination of water resources.