Analysis Of 20 Kinds Of Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances In Wastewater And Sludge Samples With Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

To evaluate PFASs (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in the environment comprehensively, two trace analytical methods were developed for the determination of 12 kinds of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and 8 kinds of associated precursor substances. The first ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was applied to analysis of 9 perfluorooalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) and 3 perfluorooalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs). Two perfluoroalkane sulfonamidoethanols (FOSEs), 2 perfluoro-1-octanesulfonamides (FOSAs), and 4 fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) were detected with the second UPLC-MS/MS method because these compounds have different physicochemical properties from those of previous ones. The wastewater samples were extracted and cleaned with WAX solid-phase extraction cartridges. The sludge samples were extracted with accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) with acetonitrile. With the use of UPLC-MS/MS, the limits of quantification were in the range of 0.24-4.32 ng/L in wastewater samples and 0.04-0.12 ng/g in sludge samples. The recoveries were in the range of 62%-130% in wastewater samples and 71%-126% in sludge samples, and the RSDs were 0.9%-12.7% and 0.4%-15.2%, respectively. The method was sensitive and accurate, and also suitable for simultaneous determination of 20 kinds of PFASs in wastewater and sludge samples.