Environmental impact of RP-HPLC strategy for detection of selected antibiotics residues in wastewater: Evaluating of quality tools

Abstract It is risky for the environment and public health to have antibiotic residues in wastewater from agricultural sources, such as poultry slaughterhouses and rabbit farms. The goal of the present investigation is to use ten sustainability metrics to create an accurate and environmentally friendly high-performance liquid chromatography approach for the detection of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, and cephradine residues in wastewater from poultry slaughterhouses, rabbit farms, and pharmaceutical factories. A mobile phase consisting of phosphate buffer solution pH 4.2 (45%) and 55% methanol was used with a C18 column (4.6 mm i.d., 250 mm, 5 µm, Agilent Co.) to accomplish the separation, with a 1.0 mL·min −1 flow rate and UV detection at 257 nm. The calibration curves exhibited linearity and covered concentration ranges of 2–50, 0.3–10, and 1–45 µg·mL −1 . The correlation coefficient was 0.9999, while accuracy results varied between 85% and 115%. The current work’s accuracy was assessed using the Six Sigma approach, which revealed a process capability index exceeding 1.3%. The latest investigation proposes the Blue Applicability Grade Index, a new technique that improves environmental metrics in real-world analytical chemistry. The procedures underwent effective validation per International Council for Harmonization standards.