Abstract：
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmental contaminants of concern due to their long persistence in the environment, toxicity, and widespread presence in humans and wildlife. Knowledge regarding the extent of PFAS contamination in the environment is limited due to the need for analytical methods that can reliably quantify all PFAS, since traditional target methods using liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS) fail to capture many. For a more comprehensive analysis, a total organic fluorine (TOF) method can be used as a screening tool. We combined TOF analysis with target LC-MS/MS analysis to create a statewide PFAS hotspot map for surface waters throughout South Carolina. Thirty-eight of 40 locations sampled contained detectable concentrations of organic fluorine (above 100 ng/L). Of the 33 target PFAS analyzed using LC-MS/MS, the most prevalent were perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS). On average, LC-MS/MS only accounted for 2 % of the TOF measured. Locations with high TOF did not necessarily correlate to high total quantified PFAS concentrations and vice-versa, demonstrating the limitations of target PFAS analysis and indicating that LC-MS may miss highly contaminated sites. Results suggest that future surveys should utilize TOF to more comprehensively capture PFAS in water bodies.
摘要：
全氟烷基和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）是环境污染物，由于它们在环境中的长期持久性，毒性,以及在人类和野生动物中的广泛存在。由于需要能够可靠量化所有PFAS的分析方法，因此对环境中PFAS污染程度的了解有限。因为使用液相色谱（LC）-质谱（MS）的传统目标方法无法捕获许多。为了更全面的分析，总有机氟(TOF)方法可用作筛选工具。我们将TOF分析与目标LC-MS/MS分析相结合，为整个南卡罗来纳州的地表水创建全州PFAS热点图。40个采样地点中有38个含有可检测浓度的有机氟（高于100纳克/升）。在使用LC-MS/MS分析的33个目标PFAS中，最普遍的是全氟辛烷磺酸(PFOS)，全氟辛酸（PFOA），全氟庚酸（PFHpA），和全氟己烷磺酸盐(PFHxS)。平均而言,LC-MS/MS仅占所测量的TOF的2%。具有高TOF的位置不一定与高总定量PFAS浓度相关，反之亦然。证明了目标PFAS分析的局限性，并表明LC-MS可能会错过高度污染的场所。结果表明，未来的调查应利用TOF更全面地捕获水体中的PFAS。
