The chemical pollution of water resources is a major challenge facing the humanity in this century. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a group of emerging environmental chemical pollutants distinguished by their bioactivity and high solubility. They may also cause health complications to humans and living organisms. Pharmaceuticals enter the environment, mainly via wastewater and can eventually reach the surface and ground water. Despite this, PPCPs received less attention as environmental pollutants than other chemical pollutants (e.g. heavy metals and pesticides). The purpose of this work was to investigate the presence of some of the most frequently dispensed drugs for the residents of Almadinah Almunawarah, Saudi Arabia in the municipal wastewater before and after treatment. For this purpose, wastewater samples were collected biweekly from the city's sewage treatment plant for a period of 4months and analyzed the targeted drugs using tandem LC–MS. Out of the 19 investigated drugs, 5 pharmaceuticals have been found in concentrations greater than the limit of detection in both the influents and effluents of the sewage treatment plant. As expected, the concentrations of investigated pharmaceuticals in the wastewater were found to be low. These drugs and their average concentrations (in ngmL−1) in the influents were: acetaminophen (38.9), metformin (15.2), norfluoxetine (7.07), atenolol (2.04), and cephalexin (1.88). Meanwhile, the effluents contained slightly lower levels (in ngmL−1) than those of influents: acetaminophen (31.2), metformin (3.19), norfluoxetine (7.25), atenolol (0.545), and cephalexin (1.53). The results of this study supported by many other investigations indicate the inefficiency of current conventional wastewater treatment protocols in eliminating such a group of active and potentially hazardous pollutants from the wastewater

Rice is a staple food and a good source of nutrition for half of the earth’s population including Middle Eastern countries. However, rice may accumulate hazardous levels of toxic elements. In KSA, rice is imported from many countries; some of which suffer from arsenic contamination in their groundwater and soil. Despite the large daily consumption of rice in KSA, no investigations on the contamination of rice sold there are published so far. Additionally, reports on the contamination of rice with other toxic elements are rare in the literature. To investigate this issue, a total of 84 rice samples were collected from local markets in Almadinah Almunawarah, KSA (n=70) and Brisbane, Australia (n=12) and analyzed for arsenic and other elements by ICP-MS. The mean concentrations (mgkg−1) for the KSA samples with concentrations >LOQ were 0.136 for As (range 0.026–0.464, n=70); Cd: 0.017 (0.003–0.046, n=64); Pb: 0.029 (0.003–0.218, n=40); Ni: 0.064 (0.042–0.086, n=5); Mg: 157 (51.8–777, n=70); Mn: 4.28 (0.960–10.9, n=70); Fe: 7.07 (1.9–55.1, n=70); Zn: 6.19 (1.15–13.5, n=70); Cu 1.28 (0.508–2.41, n=70); Se 0.202 (0.007–0.574, n=70); Cr: 0.057 (0.010–0.184, n=19); and Co: 0.012 (0.001–0.116, n=56). Several samples were found to contain at least one element in excess of the Chinese MCL (0.2mgkg−1for Cd, Cr, Pb, and iAs each). A large variation in element concentration was observed for samples of different origins. In comparison, the American rice accumulated the highest arsenic concentration (mean 0.257mgkg−1) followed by the Thai rice (mean 0.200mgkg−1), the Pakistani rice (mean 0.147mgkg−1), the Indian rice (mean 0.103mgkg−1), and finally the Egyptian rice (mean 0.097mgkg−1). Additionally, 3 individual samples from Surinam, Australia, and France contained arsenic concentrations (mgkg−1) of 0.290, 0.188, and 0.183. The findings of this investigation indicate that some of the rice varieties sold in KSA contain hazardous levels of arsenic and other toxic elements. For a better public health protection, concerned authorities are highly recommended to regularly monitor the concentrations of not only arsenic, but also other toxic elements (e.g. Cr, Cd, Pb) in rice grains