Ion exchange solid phase microextraction coupled to liquid chromatography/laminar flow tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of perfluoroalkyl substances in water samples

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are toxic and bioaccumulative compounds that are persistent in the environment due to their water and heat resistant properties. These compounds have been demonstrated to be ubiquitous in the environment, being found in water, soil, air and various biological matrices. The determination of PFAS at ultra-trace levels is thus critical to assess the extent of contamination in a particular matrix. In this work, solid phase microextraction (SPME) was evaluated as a pre-concentration technique to aid the quantitation of this class of pollutants below the EPA established advisory limits in drinking water at parts-per-trillion levels. Four model PFAS with varying physicochemical properties, namely hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX), perfluoro-1- butanesulfonate (PFBS), perfluoro-n-octanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoro-1-octanesulfonate (PFOS) were studied as a proof of concept. Analysis was performed with the use of ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography-laminar flow tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). This study proposes the use of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance-weak anion-exchange/polyacrylonitrile (HLB-WAX/PAN) as a SPME coating, ideal for all model analytes. A sample volume of 1.5 mL was used for analysis, the optimized protocol including 20 min extraction, 20 min desorption and 6 min LC/MS analysis. This method achieved LOQs of 2.5 ng L^{− 1} (PFOS) and 1 ng L ^{− 1} (GenX, PFBS and PFOA) with satisfactory precision and accuracy values evaluated over a period of 5 days.