
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Environment
Poster Presentation
Prepared by G. Orquera-Aguirre, Z. Jalali, R. Jack, R. Dhandapani
Phenomenex, 570 Madrid Ave., Torrance, CA, 90501, United States
Contact Information: [email protected]; 310-365-4377
ABSTRACT
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a group of human-made chemicals known for their strong carbon-fluorine bonds that prevents them from degrading under normal environmental conditions. Consequently, LC-MS/MS workflows are continuously evolving to identify and quantify the increasing number of PFAS compounds around the world. EPA 1633, a single lab validated method at the moment, provides a standardized approach to measure 40 PFAS in a wide range of environmental matrices such as water, soil, fish tissue, surface water, groundwater, and others. However, proper chromatographic separation of PFAS compounds in many of these matrices could be challenging, as interference from other endogenous contaminants could threaten the quality and reliability of the data. When conducting 1633 PFAS method in whole fish matrix studies, bile salt [TDCA] was found to interfere with the proper identification of PFOS compound. As a result of this, the use of specific core shell columns has demonstrated the ability to effectively separate both of these compounds by more than one minute in retention time. This facilitates and enhanced the quality and reliability of the analysis. Based on EPA method flexibility, this methodology can be integrated along many existing LC-MS/MS workflows in water and soil analysis laboratories.