Routine analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) at aqueous film-forming foam- (AFFF)-impacted sites typically aims to quantify perfluorinated carboxylates and perfluorinated sulfonates. However, commercial AFFF mixtures contain many other classes of PFASs for which standards are not available. Analysis and characterization of these PFASs has primarily relied on non-targeted screening using liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Non-targeted screening, which aims to identify all of the compounds of interest in a sample, can be time-consuming and may not be the best approach for rapid screening methods. In this work, we created a high-resolution PFAS product ion library using AFFF mixtures as reference standards. In addition to PFASs, we also characterized many of the non-fluorinated components of AFFF, including sulfate and carboxylate surfactants, and added product ion spectra for these components to the product ion library. We applied a targeted workflow with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry using this library to rapidly screen for 50+ classes of PFASs and non-fluorinated compounds in AFFF-impacted groundwater and soil extracts. The application of the product ion library allowed rapid and robust identification that minimized the need for qualitative evaluation of individual samples.

Application of a high-resolution product ion library to screen for AFFF-derived PFASs and other components

251st National Meeting (2016)

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