Analysis of per-and polyfluorinated alkyl substances by chromatography-mass spectrometry: A review

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic chemicals that have been produced for over fifty years, are of significant concern due to their widespread environmental distribution and potential risks to human health. The transition from legacy PFAS to emerging PFAS with shorter chains and unknown structures has further amplified existing challenges in their analysis. A variety of reliable and sensitive analytical methods is available to analyze these contaminants in various biological and environmental matrices. However, current research on PFAS lacks a unified standard for their determination and there is limited guidance on selecting appropriate methods to address specific analytical challenges. In this review, up-to-date analytical methods for PFAS detection based on chromatography and mass spectrometry in the recent literature are reviewed. The survey covers (i) a discussion of the advantages, limitations, and scope of application of various sample preparation methods for PFAS analysis, (ii) recent advances in chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry with respect to targeted and non-targeted analysis, and (iii) progress in the analysis of PFAS in complex sample matrices, including a wide range of environmental and biological samples. While liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry has been the mainstay technique in most of the studies covered, greater efforts are needed to develop newer methods to deal with not only the legacy compounds but also emerging ones. A wide range of biological and environmental matrices also needs to be identified and considered in future analytical and sample preparation developmental work.