HPLC–MS/MS Used to Determine PFAS in Food and Food Contact Material

Scientists from Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt Münsterland-Emscher-Lippe in Münster, Germany recently tested a new method for determining per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in food and food contact materials. Their findings were published in the Journal of Chromatography A (1).

Healthy food in full paper bag of different products vegetables and fruits on dark background | Image Credit: © Andrii - stock.adobe.com

Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anthropogenic chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of industrial and household applications since the 1950s. PFAS are used for various applications in different fields, mostly due to their unique chemical-physical properties, such as simultaneous hydrophobicity and lipophobicity in addition to chemical and thermal stability. Applications have been found in industries such as textile, carpet, and leather treatment. They also make consumer goods water-, stain-, and grease-resistant.

However, there are various entry pathways during production that can lead to these substances entering the environment and the cells of people and animals. Exposure to PFAS can have side effects, including changes in cholesterol, changes in the immune system, and increased risk of certain cancers (2). There are three main reasons why PFAS are hazardous to human help, said Erik D. Olson of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), there are three reasons PFAS are dangerous.

“First, the structure of PFAS means they resist breakdown in the environment and in our bodies,” he said in an interview with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Second, they move relatively quickly through the environment, making their contamination hard to contain. Third, for some PFAS, even extremely low levels of exposure can negatively impact our health” (3).

This, along with low concentrations in food, especially food of plant origin, and toxicological relevance, demand has grown for improved selective and sensitive analytical methods for the determination of PFAS in the lower ng/kg range.

For this study, the scientists presented a new method for analyzing 22 PFAS in food and food contact materials. This method, which is believed to be very sensitive, is based on liquid-solid extraction and automated clean-up using two solid phase extraction (SPE) techniques. The analytes were also separated and detected using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). A limit of detection (LOD) of 0.33 ng/kg and a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 1.0 ng/kg were obtained for plant foods, such as fruits and vegetables, milk, and baby food. For foods of animal origin, such as eggs, meat, and fish, and paper-based food contact materials, the scientists attained an LOD of 1.6 ng/kg as well as an LOQ of 5.0 ng/kg. The most abundant compounds found in the food samples were perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), with concentration as high as 1051 ng/kg of PFOA in seaweed samples and 772 ng/kg of PFOS in egg samples. In food contact material samples, higher levels were found with a maximum of 310,000 ng/kg perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA). Overall, the presented method was deemed to be suited for generating further data on PFAS contamination of food and food contact materials at very low concentrations.

References

(1) Aßhoff, N.; Bernsman, T.; Esselen, M.; Stahl, T. A Sensitive Method for the Determination of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Food and Food Contact Material Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry. J. Chromatogr. A 2024, 1730, 465041. DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2024.465041

(2) Health Impacts. State of New Hampshire 2024. https://www.pfas.des.nh.gov/health-impacts (accessed 2024-7-15)

(3) “Forever Chemicals” Called PFAS Show Up in Your Food, Clothes, and Home. National Resources Defense Council 2024. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/forever-chemicals-called-pfas-show-your-food-clothes-and-home (accessed 2024-7-15)