Analysis of legacy PFAS and potential precursors in curtain, sofa, and carpet fabric samples

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of man-made compounds used, for example, as water and oil repellents to protect textiles and fabrics. Due to a growing concern about some of these compounds, industries have introduced new PFAS varieties with supposedly less harmful properties. In this study, different fabric samples from carpets, curtains and sofas (n = 30) were analyzed after a solvent extraction and an Envi-Carb clean-up for 81 PFAS, including legacy PFAS and 43 newly synthesized precursors, mainly perfluoroalkane sulfonamide derivatives by liquid and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry. In total, 28 PFAS were detected in the fabric samples. Fluorotelomer alcohols showed the highest concentrations in the fabrics (1-2329 μg/m²). Perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) and perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) were also detected but at lower concentrations (e.g., 0.02-1.71 μg/m² for PFHxA, 0.01-1.97 μg/m² for PFBS). Perfluoroalkane sulfonamide precursors such as MeFBSAA, FBSE, MeFBSE, FBSA, and MeFBSEA were primarily found in carpet and curtain samples, accounting for approximately 10 % and 24 % of the total PFAS concentration in these matrices, respectively. These precursors were predominantly fully fluorinated compounds with 4-carbon chains. These precursors mostly correspond to fully fluorinated 4-carbon chain-PFAS and may be in accordance with the higher use of shorter PFAS compounds observed in recent years but more samples should be tested to confirm this assumption.