DEVELOPING A METHOD FOR ANALYZING PFAS COMPOUNDS IN WATER USING LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY (LC-MS/MS), MEETING EU STANDARDS 2020/2184

Abstract

Perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) are synthetic organic compounds that are currently under
scrutiny due to their high toxicity and potential to accumulate in the environment. To comply with EU
2020/2184 standards, the process for analyzing 21 PFAS compounds in water samples has been refined.
Specifically, 250 mL of water undergoes pretreatment and enrichment using a weak anion exchange column
(WAX) before being analyzed on the LC-MS/MS ABSciex Qtrap 4000 system. The method's detection limit
(MDL) and limit of quantification (MQL) for the 21 PFAS compounds are 1 pg mL-1
and 3 pg mL-1
,
respectively. Our validation results demonstrate high accuracy and precision, with a recovery efficiency
ranging from 82 - 106%, and repeatability and reproducibility below 11%. Notably, upon analyzing 5 water
samples, none of the 21 PFAS compounds were detected