Pittcon 2024: Chromatographic Techniques Used to Detect PFAS

On February 25, a Pittcon oral session, titled “Detection of PFAS and other Polyfluorinated Analytes,” took place at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. This session featured six talks that covered a variety of analytical techniques currently being used in per- and polyfluoralkyl (PFAS) analysis.

First, Alicia Stell, market development manager at CEM Corporation, gave a talk titled, “Rapid, Efficient, and High-Throughput Extraction Method of PFAS from Soil.” Stell’s talk discussed the need for a harmonized method to accurately determine PFAS concentration in soil. Her lecture explained why the extraction of PFAS is challenging, and why a high-throughput extraction system that uses microwave technology is a better alternative to traditional PFAS sample preparation techniques.

Next, Rachael Szafnauer, an application scientist from Markes International, presented a talk titled, “Extraction of Volatile Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) from Drinking Water Using Automated Extraction and Enrichment Techniques Coupled with GC-TOF-MS.” Szafnauer’s talk discussed how the Centri extraction and enrichment platform was used to investigate several automated sampling techniques to extract the gas chromatography (GC)-amenable PFAS compounds from water that are typically problematic when performing high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis.

Alexander Marchione, a research analytical chemist from Chemours, presented a talk titled “Limits of Detection of 19F-Observe NMR Experiments for Characterization of Environmentally Relevant Analytes.” Marchione’s talk discussed how mass spectrometry (MS), while normally used to quantify and identify polyfluorinated analytes, is not the best method to use for this type of analysis. Marchione discussed the benefits of using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for this type of analysis, and how NMR can conduct structural identification of unknown analytes.

In his presentation, “Analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Water and Soil Samples Using Draft EPA Method 1633 with Automated and Semi-Automated Solid Phase Extraction,” Tom Hall, vice president of Fluid Management Systems, discussed a recent experiment where fully automated and semi-automated SPE systems were used to run both wastewater samples and soil extracts for PFAS covering a total of 40 native compounds as per EPA method 1633.

Paul Johnson, product marketing and product management leader of Syft Technologies, deliver a talk titled, “Measurement of PFAS in Complex Matrices Using Negative Reagent Ions.” Johnson discussed his team’s recent work using the negative reagent ions available with selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) to measure PFAS from headspace samples of several personal care and household products.

To conclude the oral session, David Alonso, an application chemist at LECO Corporation, delivered a talk titled, “Identifying PFAS Chemicals in Consumer Anti-fog Product Solutions Using GC-TOF-MS,” at 11:20 am. Alonso’s talk touched upon a study that used gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) to characterize anti-fog solution compounds.