Study of Perfluoroalkyl Acids (PFAA) in High-Protein Food Products.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) belong to the 'emerging' class of persistent organohalogenated contaminants in the environment. In this study, the levels of ten PFAS in the selected samples representing different food types was addressed with a special focus on those rich in protein such as fish, meat and meat preparations, liver, eggs, and leguminous vegetables. PFAS determination was based on the QuEChERS extraction procedure followed by the micro high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (micro-HPLC-MS/MS). The study showed that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the most frequently found in 84% of the food samples. Nevertheless, its maximum measured concentration was 0.50 ng g for herring sample. The highest concentrations were identified for PFBA (35 ng g measured in a pork liver sample) and PFOS (12 ng g measured in a herring sample). Since these compounds may bioaccumulate in human tissues by dietary intake, further research on their impact on human health needs to be studied.