Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made carbon-chain based compounds that have been widely used in commercial and industrial products such as fire-fighting foams, water proofing treatments for clothing and furniture, nonstick cookware, and paper. PFAS’ are thermally and chemically stable, and resistant to degradation, making them ideal for many applications, but also allows the chemicals to bioaccumulate in the environment, leading to a designation as a contaminant of concern to human health and wildlife.
US EPA promulgated SW-846 Method 8327 for the analysis of PFAS in four non-potable aqueous matrices using external standard calibration and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). In this application note, a fast and robust method for the analysis of all analytes listed in EPA Method 8327 is presented, using a PerkinElmer QSight® LX50 ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system coupled with the PerkinElmer QSight 220 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer.