The global reliance on pharmaceuticals coupled with the lack of effective treatment methods has resulted in pseudo-persistence of pharmaceuticals within the environment. Globally, efforts to quantify and monitor pharmaceuticals within the environment have been well underway, however few studies have been made within small Pacific Islands. This study aims at screening for the occurrence and concentration of pharmaceutical residues within the southern coastal waters of Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu. Water samples were collected from a depth of ca. 0.6 m from seven sites and were analyzed for 80 pharmaceuticals via a combination of chromatography and heated electrospray ionization. Seventy-two pharmaceuticals were quantified at least once with average concentrations ranging between 0.04 ng/L (diltiazem) and 19 ng/L (ketoconazole), and with all but two pharmaceuticals (trimethoprim and biperiden) being present in less than 50 % of the samples. Findings suggest that even though the release of pharmaceuticals into the marine environment are sporadic and are diluted via turbulent mixing, there are measurable concentrations of pharmaceuticals in Fiji and these pollutants are not necessarily restricted to highly populated areas.

全球对药品的依赖以及缺乏有效的治疗方法已导致药品在环境中的伪持久性。在全球范围内，在环境中对药物进行定量和监控的工作正在进行良好，但是在太平洋小岛国进行的研究很少。这项研究旨在筛选斐济主岛维提岛南部沿海水域中药物残留的发生和浓度。从约200毫米的深度收集水样。从七个地点0.6 m处，并通过色谱和加热电喷雾电离的组合分析了80种药物。对72种药物进行了至少一次定量，平均浓度范围为0.04 ng / L（地尔硫卓）至19 ng / L（酮康唑），并且只有两种药物（甲氧苄啶和联苯哌丁胺）在不到50％的样品中存在。研究结果表明，尽管散发到海洋环境中的药物是零星的，并且通过湍流混合而稀释，但斐济的药物浓度可测，这些污染物并不一定局限于人口稠密的地区。