Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a family of manufactured chemicals that are widely employed in consumer goods and industrial applications because of their special qualities. Chemically, these compounds contain a chain of carbon atoms bonded to multiple fluorine atoms, and with different functional groups at the end of the chain. A portion of these chemicals exhibit a neutral and volatile nature, and are recently gaining more attention from environmental agencies, since they can be released by consumer goods and detected in the air. Even at molecular weights over 600 Da, the presence of fluorine atoms in PFAS makes them more volatile than non-fluorinated analogues, due to weak van der Waals interaction properties. Therefore, they are suitable for GC-MS analysis. In the current research, a parallel GC and GC×GC methodology coupled with both low-resolution and high-resolution TOF-MS was developed for the (semi)volatile PFAS analysis. Specifically, the chemical group under study were fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOH), acrylates (FTAc), and alkyl sulfonamide (N-MeFOSA, N-EtFOSA, N-MeFOSE, and N-EtFOSE) derivatives. Regarding the MS ion source, both electron impact, positive chemical ionization, and negative chemical ionization were exploited to study the spectra of the targeted chemical groups. Dynamic headspace extraction was used for air sampling, using the most appropriate adsorbent material in terms of selectivity and sensitivity. Initially, the extraction method was optimized in terms of sampling volume and adsorbent type using a mix of PFAS standards (MW range 264-571 Da) and different spiked household goods and various environmental samples (air, water, soil).
Monitoring (semi)volatile poly- & perfluorinated hydrocarbons in environmental samples using GC-MS
Maria Chiara Corviseri;Marco De Poli;Claudia Stevanin;Alberto Cavazzini;Luisa Pasti;Flavio A. Franchina
2024
Abstract
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a family of manufactured chemicals that are widely employed in consumer goods and industrial applications because of their special qualities. Chemically, these compounds contain a chain of carbon atoms bonded to multiple fluorine atoms, and with different functional groups at the end of the chain. A portion of these chemicals exhibit a neutral and volatile nature, and are recently gaining more attention from environmental agencies, since they can be released by consumer goods and detected in the air. Even at molecular weights over 600 Da, the presence of fluorine atoms in PFAS makes them more volatile than non-fluorinated analogues, due to weak van der Waals interaction properties. Therefore, they are suitable for GC-MS analysis. In the current research, a parallel GC and GC×GC methodology coupled with both low-resolution and high-resolution TOF-MS was developed for the (semi)volatile PFAS analysis. Specifically, the chemical group under study were fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOH), acrylates (FTAc), and alkyl sulfonamide (N-MeFOSA, N-EtFOSA, N-MeFOSE, and N-EtFOSE) derivatives. Regarding the MS ion source, both electron impact, positive chemical ionization, and negative chemical ionization were exploited to study the spectra of the targeted chemical groups. Dynamic headspace extraction was used for air sampling, using the most appropriate adsorbent material in terms of selectivity and sensitivity. Initially, the extraction method was optimized in terms of sampling volume and adsorbent type using a mix of PFAS standards (MW range 264-571 Da) and different spiked household goods and various environmental samples (air, water, soil).I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
