Incidence of Pharmaceuticals in East Fork Stones River in Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Pharmaceuticals have been detected nationwide in different environmental matrices including wastewater effluents and surface water. Moreover in recent studies pharmaceuticals have also been found in aquatic plants, fish tissues and plasma of shark bulls. Pharmaceuticals that were detected as indicated in the published literature, included steroids, prescription drugs such as antibiotics, anti-depressants, anti-inflammatory drugs, hormones and over the counter (OTC) drugs. We conducted a monitoring study to detect the presence of pharmaceuticals in Stones River (East fork), Rutherford County in middle Tennessee. East Fork Stones River is a fifth (5th) order river that drains a large portion of Rutherford County including Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Grab water samples were collected from Stones River for three seasons: (summer and fall of 2014 and 2015 and winter of 2015 and 2016) each year. Water quality parameters were also determined in situ using Eureka^TM multi-parameter sondes. Water samples were analyzed for the presence of pharmaceutical compounds using GC-MS. Chemical Abstract Service Registry Numbers (CASRN or CAS) for detected pharmaceuticals were identified. Pharmaceuticals detected included those used for treatment of chronic alcoholism (Disulfiram; CAS # 97-77-8), antibiotic drug (Trimethoprim; CAS # 738-38-5), anti-diabetic drug (Thiazolidine; CAS # 504-78-9) and anti-inflammatory conditions (Methyl palmitate; CAS # 112-39-0). While the actual concentrations of these drugs were not determined in this study, their presence in surface water is noteworthy.