Improved Method for PFAS in Environmental Waters

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an emerging group of environmental contaminants widely used in consumer products. Public unease regarding the levels of these compounds in the environment has called for methods to keep up with emerging PFAS and regulations. There is a need for analytical methods that are efficient and robust that can be readily used and easily accessed in commercial laboratories. This work discusses the development of an efficient, sensitive and reliable liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the analysis of 40 PFAS in aqueous matrices (10 min run time). Initial calibration demonstrated excellent linearity for all PFAS analytes with r 2 values greater than 0.997. Limit of detections (0.2-100 ng/L) and limit of quantifications (1-350 ng/L) show the ability for the method to reach necessary levels to stay up to date with federal and state regulations. Two solid phase extraction techniques were compared based on recovery accuracy and precision. Recoveries ranged from 92.0% to 105.0% and 67.0% to 109.0% for the automated and manual setups, respectively. Evidence was found to support improvements in sample recovery using an automated setup. The validated method was used to analyze samples from six natural water sources in the Baltimore-Metro area, where seven of the forty PFAS compounds were found in at least one sample.