Extraction and Analysis of Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) from Soil

Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Environment (Session 2)
Oral Presentation

Presented by C. Shevlin
Prepared by M. MacLennan
Pacific Rim Laboratories, #103, 19575-55A Avenue, Surrey, BC, V3S 8P8, Canada


Contact Information: [email protected]; 604-532-8711

ABSTRACT

Recent studies suggest that toxic and highly persistent poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are much more prevalent in tissue and soil than in water. The increasing length of perfluoroalkyl chain in PFAS is correlated strongly to lower water solubility/higher adsorption behavior of a particular PFAS molecule in the environment (i.e., migration of PFAS at soil/water/air interfaces) and in remediation/filtration (i.e., choice of filtration media or sorbents). There are over 6,000 PFAS commercially available, many of which have high environmental persistence and have been found in water and soils globally. This poses a significant challenge to developing analytical methods, especially for the extraction of a variety of PFAS from solid matrices such as soil. Current extraction methods, such as vortex and sonication, do not yield acceptable recoveries.

This presentation shows an efficient PFAS extraction method from soil using accelerated solvent extraction followed by SPE before LC-MS/MS analysis.