High-throughput screening of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in human plasma using biocompatible solid-phase...

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are of increasing concern due to their environmental persistence, bioaccumulative nature, and association with adverse health outcomes. The growing need for large-scale monitoring and long-term exposure assessment studies necessitates the development of high-throughput, sustainable analytical methodologies. In this work, a solid-phase microextraction-microfluidic open interface-mass spectrometry (SPME-MOI-MS) platform was developed for the rapid screening of 18 PFAS compounds in human plasma. By bypassing the liquid chromatography separation, the method achieves high-throughput performance with an average analysis time of 3.7 min per sample. A novel SPME coating, comprising hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced mixed-mode weak anion exchange sorbent (HLB-WAX) particles embedded in a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) binder, enabled efficient extraction and effective cleanup of complex biological matrices, facilitating direct MS analysis. The method demonstrated excellent linearity (1-100 ng/mL) and low limits of detection (0.11-0.86 ng/mL) across target PFAS compounds. For practical application, PFOA and PFNA were detected in human plasma samples during these initial investigations, demonstrating the potential of the SPME-MOI-MS approach for large-scale PFAS biomonitoring and exposure assessment.