Smart strategy for monitoring and removal of certain pharmaceuticals from wastewater with TLC, innovative implementation of ImageJ software: A view through greenness assessment

Abstract

Pharmaceutical residuals in untreated hospital wastewater (HWW) can disrupt the delicate balance in the ecosystem. The monitoring and treatment of water sources from pharmaceuticals are of critical importance. In the present work, zeolite nanoparticles were used for the removal of azithromycin (AZI), barcitinib (BAR), and prednisolone acetate (PRD), which are frequently found pharmaceuticals in HWW. An I-Optimal design was used for the optimization of the adsorption conditions. For the monitoring of AZI, BAR, and PRD concentrations in synthetic HWW, a thin-layer chromatographic method was developed. The proposed method includes the novel use of ImageJ software for the simultaneous determination of fluorescent and non-fluorescent drugs on the same TLC plate. The developed mobile phase includes the use of n-hexane, diethylamine, ethanol, and ammonia in a ratio of 6:3:1:0.1 (v/v), respectively, on a silica gel aluminum plate with fluorescence detection (F254). The utilized conditions permitted the determination of AZI, BAR, and PRD in the linearity range of 0.60–5.0 µg/spot. This method is designed to be sustainable and environmentally friendly, minimizing the use of harmful solvents and reducing waste. The need, quality, and sustainability index (NQS index) was used to benchmark the environmental importance of the proposed method.