Quantitative determination of perfluorinated surfactants in water by LC-ESI-MS/MS

Abstract

The surfactants perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and derivatives of the latter have emerged as globally distributed persistent environmental contaminants. Methods for their reliable quantitative determination at ppt-levels (ng/L) are needed in order to detect their main sources, to elucidate their environmental fate, and to identify potential sinks. The common method for water analysis involves preconcentration by SPE followed by LC coupled to ESI MS/MS (LC-ESI-MS/ MS). All sample preparation steps must be carefully optimized in order to arrive at reliable quantitative data. Two major aspects are important: (i) during SPE, contaminations may arise from materials containing traces of PFOA/S; (ii) during LC-ESI-MS/ MS, ionization yields are suppressed by matrix components and depend upon the analyte concentrations in the extracts. The levels of PFOA/S in the river Roter Main near Bayreuth have been determined using the optimized method.

Survey of two perfluorinated organic compounds (PFOA and PFHxA) in water and biota surrounding a polyfluorinated chemical plant

“…The PFHxA concentrations were also undetectable or low in all surface water samples (< 1.0-3.7 ng/l). The surface water concentrations reported here are on the low end of those reported in other coastal and fresh waters (Kallenborn et al 2004, Yamashita et al 2005, Tanaka et al 2006, Skutlarek et al 2006, deVoogt et al 2006, Weremiuk et al 2006, Loos et al 2007.…”

“…PFCs are suspected to be carcinogenic and may also act as endocrine disruptors (White et al 2011). In an effort to better understand the environmental and organismal impacts of such compounds, many studies have assessed contamination in water supplies (Post et al 2009), wastewater treatment plants Guo 2010), and a wide variety of environmental samples including fresh and marine waters (Kallenborn et al 2004, Yamashita et al 2005, Tanaka et al 2006, Skutlarek et al 2006, deVoogt et al 2006, Weremiuk et al 2006, Loos et al 2007, stormwater (Murakami et al 2009a, Xiao et al 2011, Nguyen et al 2011, groundwaters (Shultz et al 2004, Murakami et al 2009b and biota ranging from small invertebrates (vanLeeuwen et al 2006, Gulkowska et al 2006, Nakata et al 2006) to large mammals in a wide variety of habitats (Giesy and Kannan 2001). Few studies have examined a wide variety of sample types (municipal waters, natural waters and biota) collected within and near a single manufacturing plant.…”

Novel non-target analysis of fluorine compounds using ICPMS/MS and HPLC-ICPMS/MS

“…17,18 Approximately 20% of today's pharmaceutical products contain organofluorines, resulting in a broad variety of partially unknown metabolites and degradation products.…”

Perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate released from a waste water treatment plant in Bavaria, Germany

“…For analysis, the extracts were diluted (river waters 1+1, waste waters 1+9) with the same ammonium acetate/acetonitrile mixture to yield a concentration of 13 C-labeled standards of 1 µg/L. The diluted extracts were transferred to PP-snap ring vials, closed with polyethylene caps, and analyzed by LC-ESI-MS/MS (Weremiuk et al 2006). When analytes were below 1 µg/L, non-diluted extracts were used.…”

“…The equipment was pre-cleaned as described previously (Weremiuk et al 2006); Teflon equipment was avoided.…”