Determination of multi-class emerging contaminants in sludge and recovery materials from waste water treatment plants: development of a modified QuEChERS method coupled to LC–MS/MS
Recycling and recovering valuable resources from wastewater treatment plants is an important aspect in circular economy. The safe use of sludge and sludge-related products deriving from wastewater treatment strictly depends on their chemical contamination, especially by emerging pollutants. In this work, an analytical method was developed for the determination of a range of selected compounds, included in a recent European watch-list (macrolides, fluoroquinolones, neonicotinoids, carbamates and estrogens), in recovery materials from innovative pilot systems.