Study on the Determination of Perfluorocarboxylic Acids (PFCAs) in House Dust Samples by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) Method

Perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) are an important group of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have been intensively produced and used due to their outstanding features such as high resistance and water and oil repellency. However, these are also typical organic pollutants with several adverse effects on environmental and human health. Studies on the analytical methods for PFAS in general, and PFCAs in particular, in the environments are necessary to characterize their potential emission sources and related health risks. In this study, analytical procedure for simultaneous determination of 12 PFCAs (C5–C18) in house dust samples was developed with 3 main steps: i) Dust samples were extracted by ultrasonication with methanol; ii) Dust extracts were cleaned up by dispersive solid phase extraction with graphitized carbon sorbent; and iii) Concentrations of PFCAs were determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. The method was validated for recovery (72-95%), repeatability (RSD < 15%), and detection limits (0.10-1.0 ng/g). The proposed analytical method can be applied in pollution monitoring and assessment of PFCAs in settled dusts with several advantages like high accuracy, good detection ability at trace and ultratrace levels (i.e., ng/g or lower) with rapid, simple sample preparation procedure.