SPE extraction and TLC Identification of Tetracycline and Fluoroquinolone in Surface Water

In recent years, pharmaceuticals have been detected in a wide variety of environmental samples including sewage effluent, surface waters, groundwater and drinking water at a concentration from ng/l to μg/l. They are considered as pseudo-persistent pollutants, which continually enter the environment at very low concentrations (Valverde, García, Galera et al., 2006). Among different groups of pharmaceuticals, antibiotics are of special concern: large quantities are administered to humans and animals to treat diseases and infections. They are also used at sub-therapeutic levels to promote growth in livestock. After application, many of them are excreted unchanged or completely metabolized to inactive compounds, but a significant amount is excreted as active metabolites. The most prominent effect of antibiotics in the environment is the development of multi-resistant strains of bacteria (Hirsh, Hernes, Haberer et al. 1999, Valverde, Gil García, Galera, et al. 2006). Fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines are commonly used in human and veterinary medicine and there is danger from their presence in the aquatic environment (Lindberg, Jarnheimer, Olsen et al., 2005, Turiel, Bordin and Rodríguez, 2005, Brown, Kulis, Thomson et al., 2006). Depending on the chemical properties of the individual groups of antibiotics excretion of unchanged active compound is 10-90% (Boxal, Fogg, Kay et al., 2003). Tetracycline (TC), oxytetracycline (OTC) and chlortetracycline (CTC) are antibiotics of the tetracycline group frequently given to animal destined for human consumption, not only to prevent and treat certain diseases but also to accelerate growth (Stockwell and Duffy, 2012, Serrano, 2005). After medication, more than 70% of tetracycline antibiotics are excreted and released in environment in active form via urine and feces (Kuldip, Satish, Gupta et al. 2005). Fluoroquinolone residues can enter the environment mainly as a result of their excretion in the urine of humans and animals, as well as of aquaculture treatments (Boxal et al., 2003, Turiel, Bordin and Rodríguez, 2005, Andreu, Blasco and Pico, 2007). Bulletin of the Chemists and Technologists of Bosnia and Herzegovina