Simultaneous Analysis of Multiple PFAS Components in Food
The heat, oil, and water resistance properties of PFAS have led them to be widely used in flame retardants, food packaging materials, and non-adhesive coatings.
The structural stability of PFAS means that they are persistent in the environment and accumulate in living organisms. Consequently, they are known to be present in a wide range of environmental waters, soils, vegetables, and wildlife.
Due to concerns that humans could be exposed to PFAS through their diet, there is a need for research into the status of contamination by these compounds in foods.
Using a Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer
to Determine Sample Pretreatment
and Analyze PFAS in Food
This article describes determining the pretreatment method and using an LCMS-8050 system to verify the presence of 40 types of PFAS added to food in a spike-and-recovery test.
Three stages of pretreatment were considered: extraction, purification, and concentration. Extraction was based on the QuEChERS method. Two types of solid-phase purification cartridges were investigated, and the pH and methanol concentrations were examined to optimize the rinse and eluting solutions. The concentration stage was eliminated from the pretreatment protocol because it was confirmed that, following purification, multiple compounds were lost after the samples were concentrated by sparging with nitrogen gas.
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Extraction Procedure
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Purification Procedure
Recovery Rate
To verify the effect of sample matrices, a solution extracted from 10 g of carrots was purified, spiked with a PFAS standard solution, and then analyzed in an LC-MS/MS system (spiking after purification).
To verify the purification efficiency, the extracted solution was spiked with a PFAS standard solution, and then the purified sample was analyzed (spiking before purification). In addition, to verify the efficiency of both extraction and purification, a solution from 10 g of carrots was spiked with a PFAS standard solution, and then the extracted and purified sample was analyzed (spiking before extraction).
Excellent recovery rates within 70 to 120 % were achieved for all compounds.
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MS Chromatograms of PFAS in 40 Compounds
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PFAS Recovery Rates during Each SPE
The Application News article “Analysis of Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances(PFAS) in Food Samples with LC-MS/MS” can be downloaded from this link.
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Simultaneous Analysis
of Multiple PFAS Components
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Solutions for Improving Data
Processing Efficiency
for PFAS AnalysisUsing Peakintelligence for efficient data analysis—Applications for PFAS analysis—
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Non-target Analysis of PFAS in Surface Water
Non-target Analysis Using High Resolution Mass Spectrometer
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Relevant Instruments
Triple Quadrupole：LCMS-TQ RX Series
Innovative technology, exceptional design and new ways of thinking are part of our engineering DNA delivering solutions for the ever-changing needs of any laboratory. As our scientific and business needs change our engineering design evolves and adapts. The result is the RX Series of triple quadrupole LC-MS instruments designed with unmatched capability, redefined reliability and creating a new standard in actionable data.