Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of commercially-produced compounds that have been widely used in industrial and commercial applications. PFAS are persistent in the environment and have been found also to bioaccumulate and to biomagnify in organisms. Humans have been exposed to PFAS mainly through drinking water, food, consumer products, and dust, and some negative human health outcomes have been found to be associated with PFAS exposure. However, in the study of human health effects related to PFAS exposure, a significant barrier is to measure PFAS concentrations in human blood, because the detection of PFAS in blood is rarely done, as it remains expensive and time-consuming to perform on standard liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry instruments. In our research study, we have been exploring the use of a commercially available and inexpensive graphitized activated carbon (GAC) fabric to capture PFAS from aliquots of human serum. The analysis of these samples for total fluorine by particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy allows the rapid screening for the presence of PFAS by using the quantitative measure of the level of total fluorine in human blood. There is very little free fluoride in human blood, so the absence of signal means there is no significant PFAS present. With a sufficiently low limit of detection, it will be possible to screen for total fluorine concentrations in less than 10 mL of blood sera in minutes per sample. We will report on the most recent modifications of the filter substrate to lower the limit of detection to relevant levels for routine blood sera screening.

Screening for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human blood by particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE)

ACS Fall 2021

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