A novel method for quickly and quantitatively measuring aqueous lead in drinking water has been developed. A commercially available activated carbon felt has been found to effectively capture lead from tap water, and partnered with X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, provides quantitative measurement of aqueous lead in drinking water. Specifically, for a 2-liter volume of tap water, the linear range of detection was found to be from 5 – 150 ppb, encompassing the current EPA limit for lead in drinking water (15 ppb). Using 15 ppb as the screening threshold for elevated Pb in water, 75 Pb solutions from 0 ppb to 150 ppb gave a 91% sensitivity, 97% specificity, and 93% accuracy and all the misidentified samples fell between 10 and 15 ppb. This method has also proved reliable for detecting calcium as well as several other divalent metals in drinking water including copper, zinc, iron, and manganese.<br/>Furthermore, this water filtration method has shown success in capturing per and polyflourinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and when partnered with particle induced gamma emission (PIGE) for total fluorine analysis can be used to screen for PFAS contamination in drinking or ground water. Preliminary findings have shown that this method can detect perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) below 70 ppt, the current EPA maximum allowable limit for PFOA in drinking water. This method, while it cannot differentiate specific PFAS compounds, could be used to screen for overall elevated PFAS levels in water before sending samples on for expensive and time intensive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) analysis, the current gold standard for PFAS measurement. If present, the PFAS could be eluted off the filter and analyzed with LC/MS/MS to determine specific PFAS compounds, giving this filter the potential to be used as a preconcentration tool in an LC/MS/MS system.

Utilizing an activated carbon filter for efficiently screening for environmental contaminants, including lead and PFAS, in drinking water

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.