Analysis of Drinking Water
Drinking water is the most important resource for human life. Therefore, respective countries and regions have been considering contamination levels and standardized analytical methods for PFAS.
In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published methods 533 and 537.1 as the analytical methods for PFAS in drinking water. In addition, in April 2024, the EPA disclosed their finalized PFAS national primary drinking water regulation. This regulation indicates the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) as legally enforceable PFAS concentrations in drinking water.
PFAS Analysis Specified in EPA 533
The MCLs require public water systems to monitor specific PFAS compounds at low concentration levels, especially for POFA and PFOS, which must be below 4 ng/L. To achieve those levels, a sensitive and reliable analytical system is essential for PFAS analysis. This Application News article demonstrates the performance of the Shimadzu LCMS-8050 for analyzing the target PFAS compounds specified in EPA method 533.
Chromatogram of Target Compounds
Chromatography was optimized to decrease the run time compared to the original EPA method 533. The final run time of the method presented here was 15 minutes (50 % shorter than the original method). All targets eluted within 5.5 minutes.
1 PFBA, 2 PFMPA, 3 PFPeA, 4 PFBS, 5 PFMBA, 6 PFEESA, 7 NFDHA, 8 4:2 FTS, 9 PFHxA, 10 PFPeS, 11 HFPO-DA, 12 PFHpA, 13 PFHxS, 14 ADONA, 15 6:2 FTS, 16 PFOA, 17 PFHpS, 18 PFOS,19 PFNA, 20 9Cl-PF3ONS, 21 8:2 FTS, 22 PFDA, 23 PFUNA, 24 11Cl-PF3OUdS, 25 PFDoA
Precision and Accuracy
Two precision and accuracy studies were conducted in this work.
The results confirm that the individual precision and accuracy of the Shimadzu LC-MS/MS system, as well as the overall precision and accuracy, are suitable for PFAS analysis according to EPA method 533.
The Application News article “EPA 533 for PFAS Analysis with the Triple Quad LCMS-8050: Demonstration of Instrument and Method Performance” can be downloaded from this link.
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