Development of Screening Analysis Method for Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Surface Water on LC-Q-TOF

Introduction

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made fluorinated compounds persistent in the environment including water, soils, food and living organisms. Standard methods such as EPA 537 were established for monitoring PFAS in drinking water and surface water[1] . MRM based methods are used for targeted screening of up to about 30 PFASs. However, PFAS is a large collective of compounds and many of them are not determined by the existing analytical methods[1,2] . As such, PFAS risk potential presents in the environment may be underestimated. This study aims to establish a new approach for screening both known and undiscovered PFASs in water bodies based on high mass accuracy, characteristic MS/MS pattern and the specific mass defect features of PFASs on Q-TOF LC-MS.

June 3, 2020 GMT