Assessment of diclofenac in three selected rivers of Western Himalayan Region

Abstract

The present study reports the concentration of Non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drug (NSAID), Diclofenac in three main rivers namely Sarsa, Sutluj and Ravi of Western-Himalayan region. Diclofenac was analyzed from water samples using UPLC-S/MS system. The concentration ranged between 0- 2.05ng/l, the maximum concentration was observed in Badhi (S1) due to presence of number of pharmaceutical industries. The concentrations of diclofenac reported in the current study were comparatively very low as observed in other studies worldwide. This is the first report on the occurrence of diclofenac in the rivers of Western Himalayan region.