The Occurrence Of Diclofenac In The Particulate Phase Of ‎wastewaters ‎

Diclofenac is one of the most consumed drugs in the world and in ‎Algeria. It is classified in the therapeutic group of non-steroidal ‎anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The presence of ‎pharmaceuticals in the environment is known in the recent ‎decades as "emerging contaminants", the most part of these ‎substances can enter in the aquatic systems from the excretion of ‎these molecules after human consumption or veterinary use. Our ‎work focuses on the presence of these molecules in the ‎wastewater’s particulate phase of two wastewaters treatment ‎plants (WWTPs) in Algiers. The particulate phase was isolated by ‎filtration of wastewater on glass fibre filters (GFF) with diameter ‎pores of 1.6 and 0.7 µm, and then the filters were extracted using ‎an ultrasound bath followed by a centrifugation step. The filtrate ‎was diluted in Ultra-pure water and extracted with solid phase ‎extraction (SPE) cartridges. The samples were analysed by gas ‎chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after ‎a derivatization step with N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl) ‎trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) to reduce the polarity of our ‎molecule and increase its volatility, which make the analysis ‎more suitable.‎