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Determination of perfluorinated chemicals in food and drinking water using high-flow solid-phase extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

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Abstract

For this study, we developed methods of determining ten perfluorinated chemicals in drinking water, milk, fish, beef, and pig liver using high-flow automated solid-phase extraction (SPE) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The analytes were separated on a core-shell Kinetex C18 column. The mobile phase was composed of methanol and 10-mM N-methylmorpholine. Milk was digested with 0.5 N potassium hydroxide in Milli-Q water, and was extracted with an Atlantic HLB disk to perform automated SPE at a flow rate ranged from 70 to 86 mL/min. Drinking water was directly extracted by the SPE. Solid food samples were digested in alkaline methanol and their supernatants were diluted and also processed by SPE. The disks were washed with 40% methanol/60% water and then eluted with 0.1% ammonium hydroxide in methanol. Suppression of signal intensity of most analytes by matrixes was lower than 50%; it was generally lower in fish and drinking water but higher in liver. Most quantitative biases and relative standard deviations were lower than 15%. The limits of detection for most analytes were sub-nanograms per liter for drinking water and sub-nanograms per gram for solid food samples. This method greatly shortened the time and labor needed for digestion, SPE, and liquid chromatography. This method has been applied to analyze 14 types of food samples. Perfluorooctanoic acid was found to be the highest among the analytes (median at 3.2–64 ng/g wet weight), followed by perfluorodecanoic acid (0.7–25 ng/g) and perfluorododecanoic acid (0.6–15 ng/g).

Automated disk-type solid-phase extractors.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC 98-2621-M-002-015) and the Center for Environment and Occupational Health Research, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10055, Taiwan

    Ying-Chia Chang, Wen-Ling Chen, Fang-Yu Bai, Gen-Shuh Wang & Chia-Yang Chen

  2. Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10055, Taiwan

    Pau-Chung Chen, Gen-Shuh Wang & Chia-Yang Chen

  3. Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10055, Taiwan

    Pau-Chung Chen

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  1. Ying-Chia Chang
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  2. Wen-Ling Chen
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Correspondence to Chia-Yang Chen.

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Additional information regarding the details of sample preparation and instrumental analysis (including suggested parameters for a conventional HPLC) is available free of charge at http://www.springerlink.com/

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Chang, YC., Chen, WL., Bai, FY. et al. Determination of perfluorinated chemicals in food and drinking water using high-flow solid-phase extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 402, 1315–1325 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5519-9

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