TY - JOUR A1 - Zweigle, Jonathan A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Zwiener, Christian T1 - Can Qualitative Nontarget Data Be Indicative of PFAS Contamination? First Evidence by Correlation with EOF in Environmental Samples N2 - We correlated nontarget screening (NTS) features and extractable organic fluorine (EOF) data for PFAS analysis in environmental samples. Soils, sediments, and ashes from different locations (Germany, France, and Lithuania) (n = 34) were analyzed via liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry and high-resolution continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry. NTS feature prioritization based on mass to carbon (m/C) and mass defect to carbon (MD/C) ratios was applied to discriminate potential PFAS features from common co-extracted organic matrix. Our results show a high correlation between quantitative EOF and the prioritized feature number (R2 = 0.87; rPearson = 0.93) and the total peak area of prioritized features (R2 = 0.97; rPearson = 0.98), while commonly applied MD ranges for filtering showed much weaker correlation with EOF. The observed correlations in PFAS-contaminated samples highlight that MD/C−m/C prioritization is associated with a good indication of the overall PFAS burden as evidenced by EOF. Also, semiquantitative data can be extracted as shown by EOF versus prioritized peak areas. The correlations indicate that weakly fluorinated compounds were negligible and that the EOF was mostly composed of highly fluorinated substances. Our method features the potential to automatically screen large NTS data sets for potential PFAS, determine the contribution of PFAS to EOF, and provide preliminary estimates of the overall PFAS burden. KW - PFAS KW - Non-target Screening KW - Sum parameter PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00442 SN - 2328-8930 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-60754 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - An optimized method for PFAS analysis using HR–CS–GFMAS via GaF detection N2 - The analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) via sum parameters like extractable organic fluorine (EOF) in combination with high resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR–CS–GFMAS) is highly promising regarding fluorine sensitivity and selectivity. However, the HR–CS–GFMAS method includes several drying and heating steps which can lead to losses of volatile PFAS before the molecular formation step using e.g., GaF formation. Hence, the method leads to a strong discrimination of PFAS within the EOF depending on their physical/chemical properties and is therefore associated with reduced accuracy. To reduce this discrepancy and to indicate realistic PFAS pollution values, an optimization of the HR–CS–GFMAS method for PFAS analysis is needed. Hence, we determined fluorine response factors of several PFAS with different physical/chemical properties upon application of systematic optimization steps. We could therefore improve the method's sensitivity for PFAS analysis using a modifier drying pre-treatment step followed by a sequential injection of sample solutions. The highest improvement in sensitivity of volatile PFAS was shown upon addition of a Mg modifier during drying pre-treatment. Thereby, during optimization the relative standard deviation of fluorine response factors could be reduced from 55 % (initial method) to 27 % (optimized method) leading to a more accurate determination of organofluorine sum parameters. The method provides an instrumental LOD and LOQ of β(F) 1.71 μg/L and 5.13 μg/L, respectively. Further validation aimed to investigate several matrix effects with respect to water matrices. Here, substance-specific behavior was observed. For example, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) which was used as calibrator, showed signal suppressions upon high chloride concentrations (>50 mg/L). Hence, a thorough separation of Cl from analytes during sample preparation is needed for accurate sum parameter analysis. KW - PFAS KW - GF-AAS KW - Method optimization PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-610522 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126811 VL - 281 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-61052 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart A1 - Dierckes, G. A1 - Göckener, B. A1 - Koschorreck, J. A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - Analyse von PFAS mittels (Non-)Target HRMS, dTOPA und EOF in Schwebstoff-Proben aus Zeitreihen der Umweltprobenbank N2 - Per- und polyfluorierte Alkylverbindungen (PFAS) sind eine Substanzklasse bestehend aus mehreren tausenden Einzelverbindungen. Unter PFAS zählen alle Verbindungen, die mindestens eine perfluorierte Methyl- (-CF3) oder Methylen-Gruppe (-CF2-) besitzen. Somit zählt auch ein großer Teil der fluorierten Medikamente, Pflanzenschutzmittel oder Biozide in die PFAS-Substanzklasse. Aufgrund der Persistenz, Bioakkumulation in Nahrungsketten, Toxizität und der ubiquitären Verbreitung von PFAS zählen sie zu den „emerging pollutants“. Die PFAS-Analytik ist wegen ihrer vielfältigen physikalisch-chemischen Eigenschaften und der sehr hohen Anzahl an PFAS eine große Herausforderung. Da es für viele Anwendungen noch ungewiss ist, welche PFAS verwendet werden, wie sie in die Umwelt gelangen und welche Transformations- bzw. Abbauprodukte entstehen, stoßen analytische Ansätze, die nur auf Einzelsubstanzen abzielen, hier an ihre Grenzen. PFAS-Summenparameter-Methoden, die darauf abzielen ein möglichst vollständiges Abbild der PFAS-Belastungssituation widerzuspiegeln, werden daher immer wichtiger. KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - Fluorine KW - SPM KW - LC-MS/MS KW - Schwebstoffe PY - 2023 VL - 5 SP - 1 EP - 6 AN - OPUS4-57544 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart A1 - Becher, S. A1 - Dierckes, G. A1 - Langhammer, Nicole A1 - Cossmer, Antje A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Göckener, B. A1 - Fliedner, A. A1 - Rüdel, H. A1 - Koschorreck, J. A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - Quantification and characterization of PFASs in suspended particulate matter (SPM) of German rivers using EOF, dTOPA, (non-)target HRMS N2 - In this study, we compare analytical methods for PFAS determination–target analysis, non-target screening (NTS), direct total oxidizable precursor assay (dTOPA) and extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF). Therefore, suspended particulate matter (SPM) samples from German rivers at different locations in time series from2005 to 2020 were analyzed to investigate temporal and spatially resolved trends. In this study 3 PFAS mass balances approaches were utilized: (i) PFAA target vs. PFAS dTOPA, (ii) PFAS target vs. EOF and (iii) PFAS target vs. PFAS dTOPA vs. organofluorines NTS vs. EOF. Mass balance approach (i) revealed high proportions of precursor substances in SPM samples. For the time resolved analysis an increase from 94% (2005) to 97% in 2019 was observable. Also for the spatial resolved analysis precursor proportions were high with >84% at all sampling sites. Mass balance approach (ii) showed that the unidentified EOF (uEOF) fraction increased over time from82% (2005) to 99% (2019). Furthermore, along the river courses the uEOF increased. In the combined mass balance approach (iii) using 4 different analytical approaches EOF fractions were further unraveled. The EOF pattern was fully explainable at the sampling sites at Saar and Elbe rivers. For the time resolved analysis, an increased proportion of the EOF was now explainable. However, still 27% of the EOF for the time resolved analysis and 25% of the EOF for the spatial resolved analysis remained unknown. Therefore, in a complementary approach, both the EOF and dTOPA reveal unknown gaps in the PFAS mass balance and are valuable contributions to PFAS risk assessment. Further research is needed to identify organofluorines summarized in the EOF parameter. KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - Fluorine KW - SPM KW - LC-MS/MS PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163753 SN - 1879-1026 SN - 0048-9697 VL - 885 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-57429 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schusterbauer, Robert A1 - Schünemann, Pia A1 - Nickl, Philip A1 - Er, Jasmin A1 - Kämmer, Victoria A1 - Junge, Florian A1 - Fazzani, Salim A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Haag, Rainer A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen T1 - Bifunctional Reduced Graphene Oxide Derivatives for PFOA Adsorption N2 - Innovative materials are crucial for removing persistent pollutants per‐ and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from water. Here, a novel bifunctional reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) adsorbent is developed and characterized by advanced surface sensitive methods. Compared to pristine TRGO, the functionalized TRGO shows markedly improved PFAS removal efficiency and demonstrates strong potential for water purification applications. KW - Adsorber KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-651238 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ceur.202500240 SN - 2751-4765 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-65123 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nxumalo, T. A1 - Akhdhar, A. A1 - Mueller, V. A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Cossmer, Antje A1 - Pfeifer, Jens A1 - Krupp, E. A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Kindness, A. A1 - Feldmann, J. T1 - EOF and target PFAS analysis in surface waters affected by sewage treatment effluents in Berlin, Germany N2 - Per- and polyfuoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are emerging organic pollutants and can occur in surface and groundwater. To identify the degree of pollution in surface water with PFAS, often targeted HPLC–ESI–MS/MS has been employed in which commonly 30–40 compounds are analyzed. However, other PFAS and organofuorines remain undetected. We sampled surface water of the river Spree and the Teltow Canal in Berlin, Germany, which are afected by the efuent discharge of wastewater treatment plants. Here, we employed high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) for measuring extractable organofuorines (EOF) and compared in a mass balance approach the total fuorine to the identifed and quantifed PFAS from the targeted analysis. The analysis highlights that the EOF are in the range expected for an urban river system (Winchell et al. in Sci Total Environ 774, 2021). However, downstream of an efuent discharge, the EOF increased by one order of magnitude, e.g., 40.3 to 574 ng F L−1, along the Teltow Canal. From our target analytes, mostly short-chained perfuorinated carboxylic acids and sulfonates occur in the water, which however makes up less than 10% of the EOF. The increase in EOF in the Teltow Canal correlates well with the increase of perfuorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), indicating that PFHxA is characteristic for the discharged EOF but not responsible for the increase. Hence, it points to PFHxA precursor discharge. The study highlights that EOF screening using HR-CS-GFMAS is necessary to identify the full scale of pollution with regard to PFAS and other organofuorines such as pharmaceutical compounds from the efuent of WWTPs. KW - PFAS KW - WWTP KW - GF-MAS PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-580341 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04500-x VL - 415 SP - 1195 EP - 1204 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-58034 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - HR-CS-GFMAS for PFAS sum parameter analysis in surface water and soil samples N2 - Vorstellung neuer HR-CS-GFMAS basierter Analysemethoden zur Analytik von PFAS in Oberflächenwasser und Boden. T2 - 2. Online-Workshop "Emissionsmessverfahren für per- und polyfluorierte Chemikalien (PFC)" CY - Online meeting DA - 30.09.2021 KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - PFAS KW - Oberflächenwasser und Boden PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53465 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - EOF Analyse in Sedimenten Mittels HR-CS-GFMAS N2 - Im Vortrag wird die Entwicklung einer Methode sowie Analyse von PFAS mittels HR-CS-GFMAS in Sedimentzeitreihen der Umweltprobenbank vorgestellt. T2 - AK Umweltmonitoring der GDCh CY - Online meeting DA - 05.04.2022 KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - Sedimente KW - Umweltprobenbank KW - PFAS PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54628 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - Closing the PFAS gap – comparative study of sum parameter, non-target and target approaches N2 - Analytical Approaches for PFAS Analysis in the environment. T2 - ICOBTE & ICHMET 2023 CY - Wuppertal, Germany DA - 08.09.2023 KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - LC-HRMS PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59156 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - Analytical Approaches for PFAS Sum-parameter Analysis – from Materials to Environment N2 - PFAS analysis in environmental samples via complementary analytical apporaches. T2 - 16th Rio Symposium on Atomic Spectrometry CY - Bento Goncalves, Brazil DA - 29.11.2023 KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - LC-HRMS PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59157 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -