Rapid Determination of Selected PFAS in Textiles Entering the Waste Stream

Daniel Simon Drage*, Martin Sharkey, Harald Berresheim, Marie Coggins, Stuart Harrad

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Due to new European legislation, products entering the waste stream containing some perfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS) are subject to “low persistent organic pollutant concentration limits”. Concentrations of restricted PFAS must be below this limit for them to be legally recycled or disposed of. A rapid extraction and clean-up method was developed for the determination of 21 PFAS in various polymers used in soft furnishings and upholstery. The optimised method used vortexing and ultrasonication in methanol (0.1% NH4OH), followed by a dilution and syringe filter clean-up step. PFAS were subsequently determined via UPLC-TripleTOF/MS. Good recoveries (80–120%) of target analytes were obtained with tall and narrow chromatogram peaks. The method was validated using control matrix samples spiked with target analytes. Repeated measurements of concentrations of target compounds showed good agreement with the spiked concentrations demonstrating good accuracy and precision. The resultant extracts provided low noise levels resulting in low limits of quantification ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mg/kg. The developed method was applied successfully to real consumer products and it provided various advantages over traditional methods, including a substantially reduced analysis time, consumables and solvent consumption, and a high sample throughput which is critical to comply with implemented and proposed legislation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number55
Number of pages13
JournalToxics
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project (SAFER, reference 2018-RE-LS-3) is funded under the EPA Research Programme 2014–2020. The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action, and Environment.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • LC-TOF/MS
  • perfluoroalkyl substances
  • persistent organic pollutant
  • PFAS
  • polymers
  • waste management

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Toxicology
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
  • Chemical Health and Safety

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