From Sample to Knowledge: Strategies for Overcoming Challenges of Emerging Contaminants - PFC and Surfactants

With ever increasing numbers of compounds and classes screened for and quantitated in environmental samples, the need for sensitive and efficient analytical instruments and methods continues to rise. In this seminar, hosted by Thermo Fisher Scientific at SETAC Europe, learn from experts about their approaches to evaluating some of the most challenging environmental compounds.

Register Now

In the first part of the webinar, Dr. Davide Mariani, Head of Detergents and Surfactants at Innovhub-SSI, reviews automated surfactant extraction for analysis and quantitation. The extraction process covers matrices including textiles, polymers, and metal surfaces. Both the extraction challenges, as well as the anticipated analytical results, are explored. In addition to surfactants, recently, the analysis of polyfluorinated compounds (PFC) has created multiple challenges for labs.

Normally, the determination of PFCs is performed using sample pre-concentration via SPE followed by LC-MS/MS triple quad analysis. This approach is amenable to drinking or clean water samples. However, when analyzing wastewater samples or sludge samples that contain solvents or high organic concentrations, SPE cartridges have difficulty retaining PFAS consisting of short chains (like PFBA and PFBS). Furthermore, in dirty samples, the low resolution of triple quad technique can result in false positives. In our second lecture Dr. Massimo Peruzzo, of Eurolab, demonstrates the use of LC-HR-MS/MS (Orbitrap Q-Exactive Focus) to overcome these challenges, as well as how to eliminate the pre-concentration steps and use HRAM to enhance accuracy.

Key learning objectives:

• Learn about options for environmental labs analyzing emerging contaminants
• Explore background and regulations for emerging contaminants
• Discover the benefits of automated sample prep for extraction and analysis of surfactants
• Realize the advantages of HRAM technique for PFCs in sludge and wastewater samples
• Receive expert guidance in PFC and surfactant analysis from subject matter experts

Who should attend:

• Environmental lab directors and managers in municipal and state utilities and environmental contract labs
• Instrument operators and analysts of emerging contaminants
• Researchers of organic environmental contaminants, including graduate students, PhD or postdoctoral fellows
• Trace organic analysis chemists

Certificate of attendance:

All webinar participants can request a certificate of attendance, with a learning outcomes summary document for continuing education purposes.

Register Now