A Universal Method for the Simultaneous Determination\nof Environmental Pollutants in Marine Biological Samples: Per- and\nPolyfluoroalkyl Substances and Antibiotics as a Case Study

Conventional detection technologies\nfor environmental contaminants\nhave primarily focused on providing accurate qualitative and quantitative\nevaluations for single pollutant types, leading to increased costs\nand an inability to satisfy the growing demand for detecting a broader\nspectrum of pollutants. Here, we introduced a novel analytical method\nto simultaneously measure the concentration levels of diverse environmental\npollutants, characterized by their distinct properties, across complex\nbiological samples. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and\nantibiotics were used as a case study due to their frequency of detection\nin the environment and known impacts Our method harnesses the salting-out\neffect of sodium chloride on proteins within the muscle tissues of\n178 marine species, which significantly reduces the addition of extraneous\nsubstances, mitigates matrix interference, and avoids reliance on\nsolid-phase extraction or dispersive extraction agents. The method\nprovides a simultaneous pretreatment for the detection of several\ncompounds, with detection limits from 0.002 to 0.41 ng/g dry weight,\nwhich are substantially lower than conventional methods. Overall,\nthis method streamlines efficiency, decreases costs, lessens matrix\neffects, and sets a solid groundwork for future applications in the\nconcurrent detection of a broader spectrum of environmentally pertinent\npollutants with varied characteristics.