Quantification of Perfluorocarboxylic Acids in Water Samples via Static Headspace Gas Chromatography Coupled to Mass Spectrometry

  • Perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) are one of the most prominent and studied subgroups of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), which have attracted great interest in environmental and toxicology research due to their intensive use in combination with their persistence, mobility and potential threat to ecosystems and human health. The standard method to quantify PFCAs in water samples is liquid chromatography or, for additional quantification of ultrashort-chain PFCAs (carbon chain length of two or three carbon atoms) too, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography, in each case coupled with mass spectrometry. However, there are a lot of laboratories using MS coupled to headspace gas chromatography systems (HS-GC-MS), usually to quantify a wide range of volatile organic compounds. While PFCAs themselves are difficult to measure with HS-GC-MS in water samples, this challenge can be solved by derivatizing the acids to more volatile compounds, like esters. This approach couldPerfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) are one of the most prominent and studied subgroups of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), which have attracted great interest in environmental and toxicology research due to their intensive use in combination with their persistence, mobility and potential threat to ecosystems and human health. The standard method to quantify PFCAs in water samples is liquid chromatography or, for additional quantification of ultrashort-chain PFCAs (carbon chain length of two or three carbon atoms) too, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography, in each case coupled with mass spectrometry. However, there are a lot of laboratories using MS coupled to headspace gas chromatography systems (HS-GC-MS), usually to quantify a wide range of volatile organic compounds. While PFCAs themselves are difficult to measure with HS-GC-MS in water samples, this challenge can be solved by derivatizing the acids to more volatile compounds, like esters. This approach could enable laboratories using HS-GC-MS to analyse and monitor PFCAs in environmental water samples. By following this idea, we successfully developed a HS-GC-MS method to quantify PFCAs in ultrapure water. Trifluoric acid (TFA), perfluoropropionic acid (PFPrA), perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOS) served as exemplary analytes of PFCAs, which were derivatized with methanol and concentrated sulfuric acid to form methyl esters. The method was optimized by varying different preparation and measurement parameters, leading to limits of detection and quantification in the two-digit ppt-range for all four analytes. The method was than tested on various real water samples, including tap and bottled water, groundwater, landfill leachate, treated wastewater and impinger water from a sewage sludge incineration experiment. Furthermore, snow samples from a ski slope were analysed too. TFA was the most frequently detected PFAA, with concentrations in the ppt and low ppb range. The detection and quantification of the remaining three PFCAs vary with the sample types and sampling location.Our results show that HS-GC-MS is suitable, and enables laboratories with this technique, to quantify PFCAs water samples.zeige mehrzeige weniger

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Autor*innen:Christian Vogel
Koautor*innen:Peter Leube, Maren Riedel
Dokumenttyp:Vortrag
Veröffentlichungsform:Präsentation
Sprache:Englisch
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung:2025
Organisationseinheit der BAM:4 Material und Umwelt
4 Material und Umwelt / 4.4 Thermochemische Reststoffbehandlung und Wertstoffrückgewinnung
DDC-Klassifikation:Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / Chemie / Analytische Chemie
Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik
Freie Schlagwörter:GC-MS; Groundwater; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM:Chemie und Prozesstechnik
Chemie und Prozesstechnik / Chemische Charakterisierung und Spurenanalytik
Chemie und Prozesstechnik / Gefährliche Stoffe
Umwelt
Umwelt / Umwelt-Material-Interaktionen
Veranstaltung:SETAC Europe
Veranstaltungsort:Vienna, Austria
Beginndatum der Veranstaltung:11.05.2025
Enddatum der Veranstaltung:15.05.2025
Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments:Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access")
Datum der Freischaltung:15.05.2025
Referierte Publikation:Nein
Eingeladener Vortrag (wissenschaftliche Konferenzen):Nein
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