ACCELERATING AND OPTIMIZING PFAS ANALYSIS WITH AN AGILENT eMETHOD
Per- and polyfl uoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of over 4,000 synthetic chemicals that have been widely used in food packaging, household products, and various industrial applications in the United States since the 1940s. Due to their carbon-fl uorine bonds, PFAS are highly stable and have proved to be resistant to degradation and elevated temperatures. However, their characteristic stability means that PFAS can persist and accumulate in the environment and human body over time, posing serious toxicity concerns. A common means of exposure to PFAS is through drinking water, typically in close proximity to a facility that makes use of PFAS.
compounds used in industry. LC/MS is often used as a means of accurately detecting PFAS at the low levels typically found in the environment. For this purpose, Agilent not only provides solutions featuring ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS) systems, but also entire turnkey workfl ows in the form of eMethods, comprising of sample preparation, extraction, quantifi cation, and reporting protocols.
The PFAS eMethod
Perfl uorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfl uorosulfonic acid (PFOS) are among the most widely studied PFAS, but while their production continues in other parts of the world, their manufacture is no longer permitted in the US, EU and other parts of the world. The import of certain PFAS-containing products into the US is regulated by EPA reviews and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but many PFAS products remain unregulated in their use in commercial and domestic products.
Because the full extent of PFAS risks to the environment and human health is still being investigated, it is important that these chemicals can be consistently detected with high accuracy. Reliable, trace- level PFAS data will help inform the regulation of further PFAS
The PFAS in Drinking and Surface Water by LC/TQ eMethod is verifi ed for the extraction, separation and reliable detection of 100 native and isotopically labeled PFAS in drinking and wastewaters, including 60 PFAS with reported method detection limits. The method includes target compounds that are part of standard methods and regulatory lists such as EPA Method 537.1, EPA Method 533, SW-846 Method 8327, SW-846 Draft Method 8327, ASTM D7979-19, ASTM 7968-17a, ISO 21675:2019, Europe (EU) Water Framework Directive (WfD) & Drinking Water Directive (DWD), Japan Drinking Water Quality Standards, and Germany DIN methods. The Agilent 1290 Infi nity II LC and the Agilent 6470 triple quadrupole LC/MS are used in combination to provide high-quality quantitative results. Sample preparation is performed with Agilent SampliQ weak anion exchange (WAX) cartridges, and an Agilent ZORBAX RRHD Eclipse Plus C18 column is used for separation.
In addition to acquisition and quantitation methods, the PFAS eMethod includes sample preparation protocols, a detailed training video with a step-by-step workfl ow guide, and references to expertly selected consumables and supplies to minimize cost and effort to design and plan the required analyses.
The eMethod makes use of the Agilent PFAS multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) database for triple quadrupole LC/MS, which features data for over 100 native and isotopically labeled PFAS collected on Agilent Ultivo triple quadrupole LC/MS, Agilent 6470B triple quadrupole LC/MS, and Agilent 6495C triple quadrupole LC/MS systems. The database includes details of the intrinsic properties and identifi ers of PFAS such as chemical name, CAS number, and molecular formula. It also features optimized MRM parameters for the analysis of 72 native and 36 isotopically labeled compound from 14 PFAS groups, as well as retention time data from optimized methods.
The eMethod is designed for labs that want a widely applicable testing method and that do not plan to run dedicated regulated methods. For labs running regulated methods, the eMethod in conjunction with the Agilent PFAS MRM database can be a helpful building block to modify existing methods to expand analytical capabilities.
The regulatory landscape
The acceptable limits of PFAS in a variety of matrices—including drinking water, soil, and air—are listed by various regulatory
IET SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
WWW.ENVIROTECH-ONLINE.COM
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