Unmatched Method Robustness – StayClean™ QSight LC-MS/MS for Analysis of PFAS in Animal Tissues Based on EPA Method 1633

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Environment
Oral Presentation

Prepared by S. Cai
PerkinElmer US, LLC, 2623 Las Mercedes Lane, Corona, CA, 92879, United States


Contact Information: [email protected]; 951-258-2470

ABSTRACT

EPA Method 1633 was established for analysis of 40 PFAS in “dirty samples” such as surface water, wastewater, animal tissues, solid and biosolid samples using triple quadrupole LC-MS/MS. In this presentation, we focus on analysis of PFAS in animal tissues including chicken breast, salmon, shrimp, basa filets, beef and pork. Several improvements have been made to the existing EPA method; these include use of dual-layer GCB/WAX SPE cartridge instead of WAX SPE cartridge plus the loose carbon cleanup to reduce sample extraction and cleanup time and minimize manual operation errors. An automated SPE device was used with inlet filters between sample bottles and SPE cartridges to prevent particles from blocking the SPE cartridges. A larger ID (i.e., 4.6 mm vs. 2.1 mm) SPP LC column was used for higher column capacity, lower back pressure and reduced clogging, allowing injection of larger volume of complex samples on column, leading to higher sensitivity, better precision and accuracy and a more robust analytical method. This improved method meets or even exceeds all the key performance criteria of EPA Method 1633. The method was evaluated with a third-party proficiency test (PT) fish sample and the PFAS concentration found fall well within the expected range of certified value. QSight LC-MS/MS StayClean™ hardware design improves instrument performance and significantly reduces instrument downtime. The instrument has self-cleaning ability. Sample analysis can be performed with continuing injection of thousands of “dirty” sample extracts with virtually no instrument cleaning and maintenance due to its StayClean™ Technology. Several large robust test datasets of over 20,000 continuing injections of complex sample extracts will be presented.