Responding to recent reports regarding findings of trace levels of pharmaceuticals found in U.S. drinking water supplies, Waters Corp. recently announced that it will offer qualified U.S. water authorities complimentary drinking water analysis for common over-the-counter and prescription antidepressant pharmaceutical compounds to help assess regional exposure and move towards forward-looking solutions.
“As a provider of analytical technologies capable of detecting trace levels of contaminants in water, food and the environment, Waters is keenly aware of the broad impact that contaminants can have on our natural resources,” said Rohit Khanna, vice president of worldwide marketing for the Waters Division. “As scientists, we at Waters believe in the need—and have the solutions—to assess baseline data to measure contamination levels, if any. Through this program we hope to work in cooperation with U.S. water authorities to better assess the public’s exposure to pharmaceutical residues and assist them with potential action plans.”
For a limited time, Waters will offer authorized officials from any U.S. water authority that serves more than 100,000 customers to submit a request for a complimentary test for common over-the-counter and antidepressant pharmaceutical compounds of their finished water (tap water) by visiting www.waters.com/h2o. Requests will only be honored from authorized water officials and the results will be held in strict confidence. Waters will not accept requests from third parties.
The intention of these tests is to provide a baseline understanding of exposure to facilitate long-term solutions. These complimentary tests will not be validated or certified, and are only intended as an initial screen for the detection of pharmaceutical residues.
Waters will test submitted samples using the AquaAnalysis System, designed to detect a range of contaminants in drinking water. The AquaAnalysis System can detect target analytes at or below 10 parts per trillion (ppt), easily meeting or exceeding regulatory standards worldwide. The AquaAnalysis System has been shown to improve sample throughput by up to 80% by cutting analysis times from between three to five hours to just 30 minutes.
In December 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published Method 1694 Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Water, Soil, Sediment, and Biosolids by HPLC/MS/MS. Using Waters chemistry products, Method 1694 identifies pharmaceuticals and personal care products in environmental samples by high-performance liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) using isotope dilution and internal standard quantification techniques. This method has been developed for use with aqueous, solid, and biosolids matrices.
