Removal of selected NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) in aqueous samples by Octolig®

ABSTRACT

The possibility of removing representative nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) from water was tested using Octolig®, a commercially available material with polyethylenediimine moieties covalently attached to high-surface area silica gel. The effectiveness of removal should depend on selected NSAIDs having appropriate anionic functional groups. NSAIDs selected had aromatic carboxylic groups: diclofenac, fenoprofen, indomethacin, ketoprofen, mefenamic acid, naproxen, and sulindac. These substances in deionized (DI) water were removed by passage over Octolig columns with removal values approaching 90% at environmental pH values, e.g., ca pH 6. Fenoprofen, however, was only removed to an extent of 80% in DI water and 62% in well water, presumably a result of competition with bicarbonate ions.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-inflammation
• diclofenac
• fentoprofen
• indomethacin
• ketoprofen
• mefenamic acid
• naproxen
• NSAIDs
• Octolig®
• remediation
• sulindac
• vultures

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge samples of Octolig provided by Metre-General, Inc. by President Robert L. Alldredge (deceased) and by Mark Alldredge. We are grateful to Dr. Randy Larsen for access to the Shimadzu UV-2401 PC UV-Vis recording spectrophotometer in his laboratory.

We are grateful for helpful structural information from ChemSpider, Royal Society of Chemistry. We thank Barbara B. Martin for a careful reading, though any errors are the responsibility of the senior author. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their prompt, careful reading and useful comments.