Screening and Validation of a Pretreatment Method for Analyzing Emerging Fluorinated Compounds in Industrial Wastewater Samples

An analytical method to simultaneously determine 28 poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including PFASs alternative compounds (GenX, ADONA, and F53B) and precursors (N-MeFOSAA, N-EtFOSAA, 8:2FTUCA, 4:2FTS, 6:2FTS, and 8:2FTS) in wastewater samples using solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed. Both the Korean standard analytical method and its modified analytical method for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were applied, and the results were validated. However, the modified analytical method for POPs demonstrated better precision and accuracy for short-chain PFAS (e.g., PFBA), long-chain PFAS (e.g., PFDS), and emerging PFASs (e.g., GenX and ADONA). The accuracy and precision of the modified method for the 28 target PFASs ranged from 51% to 111% and 60% to 8.77%, respectively, with method detection limits (MDLs) of 0.17-2.14 ng/L. The modified analytical method was applied to eight industrial wastewater samples, and to two sewage water samples; 14 PFAS compounds were detected with total concentrations of 128.4-13,810 ng/L. Key Words: Poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances, emerging fluorinated compounds, ADONA, GenX, F53B