{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T20:00:30Z","timestamp":1777579230137,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,3]],"date-time":"2025-04-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743638400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sample pretreatment is one of the most important steps in guaranteeing the success of a chromatographic analysis. The selected methodology must ensure simultaneously that a sample is \u201cclean\u201d enough for analysis and that the target analytes are not removed in the process. This can be especially difficult when working with complex matrices such as natural waters and wastewater. For pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) analysis by solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS\/MS), and due to the high level of organic matter in wastewater, the water samples are filtered consecutively through three filters, a paper filter, a glass microfiber filter of 1 \u00b5m, and a Nylon filter of 0.45 \u00b5m. This filtration allows the sample\u2019s passage through the SPE cartridge to be faster, and there is no cartridge clogging, allowing for greater efficiency in the adsorption process. The big question is whether the PhACs are eliminated during filtration, since they may be adsorbed to organic matter. This work aimed to determine if the best approach for quantifying PhACs in wastewater and surface waters would be to filter them prior or to perform SPE directly. Both approaches analyzed a total of 26 PhACs. Turbidity (TUR) and permanganate index (PI) were determined, and their values were high for samples with a high organic matter content. A statistical analysis was performed to determine the best approach to treat these water samples and whether any correlation existed between PhAC concentrations, PI, and TUR. The PhAC quantification shows a positive correlation with TUR and a negative correlation with PI for most of the target PhACs. However, there are not significantly different results for filtered and not-filtered wastewater samples.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules30071609","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,4]],"date-time":"2025-04-04T03:36:45Z","timestamp":1743737805000},"page":"1609","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Analysis of Pharmaceutical Active Compounds in Complex Water Samples: Sample Filtration as an Option"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"30","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7091-9029","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sofia","family":"Silva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dire\u00e7\u00e3o de Laborat\u00f3rios, Empresa Portuguesa das \u00c1guas Livres, S.A.\u2013EPAL, 1800-031 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8621-5410","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, CICECO\u2013Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universit\u00e1rio de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Vitor V.","family":"Cardoso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dire\u00e7\u00e3o de Laborat\u00f3rios, Empresa Portuguesa das \u00c1guas Livres, S.A.\u2013EPAL, 1800-031 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Rui N.","family":"Carneiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dire\u00e7\u00e3o de Laborat\u00f3rios, Empresa Portuguesa das \u00c1guas Livres, S.A.\u2013EPAL, 1800-031 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6872-9127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina M. M.","family":"Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"iMed.UL, Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2113947119","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2113947119","article-title":"Pharmaceutical pollution of the world\u2019s rivers","volume":"119","author":"Wilkinson","year":"2022","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1007\/s40264-024-01497-3","article-title":"Call to action: Pharmaceutical residues in the environment: Threats to ecosystems and human health","volume":"48","author":"Lunghi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Drug Saf."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"N\u00e9stor, M.C., and Mariana, C. (2019). 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