The What and the Why of PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkly (PFAS) are widely used in materials such as PTFE. PTFE is commonly used in chemical analysis consumables such as the liner in caps.

 

Because Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances don't break down, they can accumulate in the environment and the human body over time. There is increasing evidence that exposure to PFAS can adversely affect human health. As a result, regulatory bodies are increasingly legislating that many materials should be tested to ensure that they contain no traces of PFAS or that the traces are below allowed legal limits particularly in water, soil, food and manufacturing processes.

 

To meet the demands for low detection limits laboratories require labware products that do not contain PTFE to minimize background contamination when testing.

The analytical detection method of choice for PFAS analysis is LC/MS/MS, which is especially suited for analysis of ionic compounds such as the PFSAs and PFCAs. GC/MS can also be used for PFAS analysis. However, while LC/MS/MS analysis of PFAS is widely available, GC/MS analysis has limited commercial availability for PFAS.