Accurate Quantification of Nervous System Drugs in Aqueous Samples at Trace Levels by Binary Solvent Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction-Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry.

Pharmaceutical products are widely consumed globally and are commonly found in wastewaters as a result of constant excretion and disposal into sewers. The present study proposes an efficient binary solvent dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (BS-DLLME) method that was developed for preconcentration of 7 nervous system drug active compounds from aqueous media for their determination at trace levels by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The drug analytes included 3 antidepressants, 2 antipsychotics, 1 antiepileptic, and 1 antidementia. Optimum conditions of the BS-DLLME method were acquired by univariate optimization of parameters including type of binary solvents, ratio of binary solvents, type of disperser solvent, volume of binary solvents, and volume of disperser solvent. Detection and quantification limits were calculated in the range of 0.28 to 6.5 µg/L. Municipal wastewater, medical wastewater, synthetic domestic wastewater, and lake water were utilized as real samples in spike recovery experiments; and the results (94-106%) indicated the method's applicability and accuracy at quantifying the analytes in complex matrices. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:1570-1575. © 2021 SETAC.