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Quantitative profiling of perfluoroalkyl substances by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography and hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

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Abstract

The accurate determination of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFSAs) in water, sediment, fish, meat, and human milk was achieved by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC–QqTOF-MS) with an ABSciex Triple TOF®. A group of 21 PFSAs was selected as target to evaluate the quantitative possibilities. Full scan MS acquisition data allows quantification at relevant low levels (0.1–50 ng L−1 in water, 0.05–2 ng g−1 in sediments, 0.01–5 ng g−1 in fish and meat, and 0.005–2 ng g−1 in human milk depending on the compound). Automatic information dependent acquisition product ion mass spectrometry (IDA-MS/MS) confirms the identity even for those compounds that presented only one product ion. The preparation of a homemade database using the extracted ion chromatogram (XIC) Manager of the software based upon retention time, accurate mass, isotopic pattern, and MS/MS library searching achieves not only the successful identification of PFSAs but also of some pharmaceuticals, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, salicylic acid, and gemfibrozid. Mean recoveries and relative standard deviation (RSD) were 67–99 % (9–16 % RSD) for water, 62–103 % (8–18 % RSD) for sediment, 60–95 % (8–17 % RSD) for fish, 64–95 % (8–15 % RSD) for meat, and 63–95 % (8–16 %) for human milk. The quantitative data obtained for 60 samples by UHPLC–QqTOF-MS agree with those obtained by LC–MS/MS with a triple quadrupole (QqQ).

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Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the projects “Assessing and predicting effects on water quantity and quality in Iberian rivers caused by global change (SCARCE)” (No. CSD2009-00065, http://www.scarceconsolider.es) and “Evaluation of emerging contaminants in the Turia River Basins: from basic research to the application of environmental forensics (EMERFOR)” (GCL2011-29703-C02-02, http://mefturia.es). We also thank the mass spectrometry section of the Central Services of Support to Experimental Research (SCSIE) of the Universitat de València for providing us access to the Linear QTOF (Applied Biosciences) and especially to Dr. Sales Galletero for helping us in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food and Environmental Safety Research Group (SAMA-UV), Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de València, Av, Vicent Andrés s/n, 46100, Burjassot, València, Spain

    Yolanda Picó

  2. Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, C/Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Marinella Farré & Damià Barceló

  3. Catalan Institute for Water Research- ICRA, C/Emili Grahit, 101, Edifici H2O, Parc Científic i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, 17003, Girona, Spain

    Damià Barceló

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  1. Yolanda Picó
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  3. Damià Barceló
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Correspondence to Yolanda Picó.

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Published in the topical collection Advances in LC-MS/MS Analysis with guest editors Damià Barceló and Mira Petrovic.

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Picó, Y., Farré, M. & Barceló, D. Quantitative profiling of perfluoroalkyl substances by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography and hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 407, 4247–4259 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-8459-y

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