Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Polyfluoroalky substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals used frequently in stain and water repellant treatments and are found in a variety of consumer products (e.g. textiles, food packaging, cookware, etc). A number of PFAS chemicals are considered persistent in the environment and potentially hazardous, and diet is known to be a primary source of exposure.

Analysis

We use liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to quantify 11 different PFAS chemicals as reported in Siebenaler et al. 2017.

Sample submission requirements

Water:

1 L collected in a pre-cleaned polyethene container (can be provided upon request). Samples must be refrigerated immediately after collection, and can be stored for up to 7 days prior to shipment.

Serum:

1.0 mL collected in a serum separator tube and transferred to a cryovial for shipment. Samples should be frozen at -20C immediately after collection, and transported or shipped to the DCEE on dry ice.

Quality assurance & quality control

With each batch of samples analyzed we routinely measure laboratory processing blanks (LC grade water or bovine serum) and evaluate the recovery of the isotopically labeled internal standards. For serum samples we also include analysis of SRM 1957 for comparison to certified levels reported by NIST.