Occurrence and quantification of prevalent antibiotics in wastewater samples from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.

Release of emerging pollutants including antibiotics to the environment is a serious concern for environmentalist as well as policy makers. To explore the presence and real situation analysis, a study was conducted focusing on detection and quantification of selected antibiotics in wastewater channels of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan along with development of a simple High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) based method. The samples were collected in triplicates from all the main wastewater streams of the study area with potential presence of antibiotics in the wastewater coming from the surrounding industries, hospitals, drug formulation units and residential localities. Optimized method for detection and quantification was established and validated through spiked as well as real samples. The highest concentration was of Ciprofloxacin 332.154 μg mL-1 followed by Ofloxacin > Ampicillin > Levofloxacin > Sulfamethoxazole. The results showed the presence of antibiotics due to indiscriminate use that could lead to presence of resistant strains and thus ultimately causing the spread of antibiotic resistance.