Improved sensitivity for the detection of PFAS in environmental water samples

Analysis of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) is now an essential part of water testing programs and is becoming a regular requirement for monitoring in environment and food sources. As regulations continue to be created and updated, the requirements for method sensitivity have become essential. Solid phase extraction (SPE) is one tool that can be utilized to enhance the sensitivity of a method by enriching the sample prior to injection. The alternative is to use a direct injection method that relies on the sensitivity performance of the mass spectrometer.

In this application note, Waters^™ demonstrates the Xevo^™ TQ Absolute tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer for the analysis of PFAS in environmental water samples. Analysis was completed on four water sample matrices: drinking water, groundwater, surface water, and influent wastewater. Method detection limits of 33 compounds (11 carboxylates, 10 sulfonates, 8 precursors, and 4 emerging) were determined to range from 0.8–2.0 ng/L.