Systemic Physiological and Ecotoxicological Research, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
Systemic Physiological and Ecotoxicological Research, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2021 May 15;1172:122653. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2021.122653. Epub 2021 Mar 10.
The bioaccumulation and toxicity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have raised scientific and public concern in recent decades, leading to regulatory measures for some PFAS (e.g. perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)). In addition, the discovery of new PFAS alternatives in the environment has led to growing concern about the presence of numerous other PFAS that are used unrestricted. Feathers have been successfully applied as non-destructive indicators for various contaminants, mostly metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), whereas their suitability as an indicator for PFAS is still discussed. Previous studies on PFAS in feathers have focused primarily on perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) and perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs); analytical methods for other groups of PFAS or PFAS alternatives in feathers are still lacking. Hence, this study aimed to develop a rapid, sensitive and reliable analytical method for determining a broad range of PFAS (N = 32) in feathers, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). An extraction duration of 24 h was found to be sufficient to extract the majority of PFAS from the feathers. The extraction recovery of the internal standards ranged on average from 68% (PFBA) to 97% (PFOS). The spike recovery was within an acceptable range of at least 70% for most of the target analytes and the precision was often > 80%. A further extract clean-up using weak anion exchange (WAX) solid phase extraction (SPE), was proven unnecessary, as it resulted in a similar or lower spike recovery, and, as a consequence, a lower precision and higher quantification limit. The analytical method allows detection of low PFAS concentrations in a low quantity of matrix (i.e. small feathers). The developed LC-MS/MS method was validated and shown to be a fast, sensitive and reliable method for determining a broad range of legacy and emerging PFAS in feathers.
在过去几十年中，全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）的生物累积和毒性引起了科学界和公众的关注，这导致了对一些 PFAS（例如全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）和全氟辛酸（PFOA））的监管措施。此外，环境中新型 PFAS 替代品的发现也引起了人们对大量其他不受限制使用的 PFAS 的关注。羽毛已成功用作各种污染物（主要是金属和持久性有机污染物（POPs））的非破坏性指标，而它们作为 PFAS 指标的适用性仍在讨论中。以前关于羽毛中 PFAS 的研究主要集中在全氟烷基磺酸（PFSAs）和全氟烷基羧酸（PFCAs）上；羽毛中其他 PFAS 组或 PFAS 替代品的分析方法仍然缺乏。因此，本研究旨在开发一种快速、灵敏和可靠的分析方法，用于使用液相色谱-串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS）测定羽毛中的广泛范围的 PFAS（N=32）。研究发现，24 小时的提取时间足以从羽毛中提取大部分 PFAS。内部标准的提取回收率平均在 68%（PFBA）到 97%（PFOS）之间。对于大多数目标分析物，加标回收率在可接受范围内至少为 70%，且精密度通常>80%。进一步使用弱阴离子交换（WAX）固相萃取（SPE）进行萃取净化被证明是不必要的，因为它会导致类似或更低的加标回收率，从而导致更低的精密度和更高的定量限。该分析方法允许在低基质量（即小羽毛）中检测低浓度的 PFAS。所开发的 LC-MS/MS 方法经过验证，是一种快速、灵敏和可靠的方法，可用于测定羽毛中广泛的传统和新兴 PFAS。
