Leaching of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) from a fire-fighting training area situated in a small town in the State of Queensland, Australia, has resulted in extensive contamination of groundwater and nearby farmlands. Target analysis of serum samples collected from the cattle held in these contaminated farmlands showed a significantly high concentration of Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS). This study presents a comprehensive non-target analysis of blood and sera from the cattle exposed to contaminated groundwater from this location. Pooled blood (n=8) and serum (n=6) samples were analysed in high-resolution mass spectrometry using liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF/MS) in both positive and negative electrospray ionisation modes (ESI+ and ESI−). Detected features were prioritised based on (i) an in-house PFAS library, (ii) suspect screening with a list of PFAS specific to aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs), (iii) mass-defect filtering, (iv) a case-control approach and (v) multivariate data analysis. A range of perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and sulfonamides that were not reported in the target analysis were identified from the contaminated blood and sera samples. It was found that AFFF-derived short-chain perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and sulfonamides are potentially bioaccumulative, and those are not currently being monitored in many PFAS biomonitoring studies.

Comprehensive non-target analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cattle exposed to AFFF-impacted groundwater

ACS Spring 2022

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