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Polyfl uorinated compounds (PFCs) have a wide industrial use as e.g. fl ame retardants, surfactants in fl uoropolymer production, lubricants, or as stain and water repellents. Their exceptional stability prevents them from being degraded in the environment and therefore are considered to be persistent organic pollutants. Importantly, PFCs are bioaccumulative and some are associated with a variety of negative health effects.

Depending on the type of sample, quantifi cation requires a sensitivity at sub-ppb levels (not including sample pre-concentration by e.g. SPE). Agilent answers this challenging requirement with its sensitive and robust Agilent 6460 Triple Quadrupole LC/MS/MS system in combination with the Agilent 1260 Infi nity Binary LC system. This provides for up to 100 µL direct injection of water samples, without precon-centration, and allows quantifi cation of the majority of PFCs, including the key compounds PFOS and PFOA, down to 20 pg/mL.

Application BriefEnvironmental

AuthorChristoph Mueller,Agilent TechnologiesLC-MS Application Chemist, Waldbronn, Germany

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS OF POLYFLUORINATED COMPOUNDS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES USING THE AGILENT 6460 TRIPLE QUADRUPOLE LC/MS/MS SYSTEM

UHPLC-QQQ Setup

• Agilent 1260 Infi nity Binary LC system

• Agilent 6460 Triple Quadrupole LC/MS/MS system

• Poroshell 120 EC-C18, 50 x 2.1 mm, 2.7 µm (Analytical and Trapping)

• Ammonium fl uoride, Water, Methanol

This publication are subject to change without notice.

© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2013Published in Germany, November 20, 2013

5991-3675EN

002 ngmL [PFPeA]263.0 -> 219.0 Final Conc.=0.0153

2.9 3.1 3.3 3.5

0.60.70.80.9

11.11.2

002 ngmL [PFBS]

3.4 3.6 3.8 4

0.60.8

11.21.41.6

299.0 -> 80.0 Final Conc.=0.0193002 ngmL [PFHxA]313.0 -> 269.0 Final Conc.=0.0199

4.4 4.6 4.8 5

2x102x102x10 2x10

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

002 ngmL [PFHxS]399.0 -> 80.0 Final Conc.=0.0191

5.5 5.7 5.9 6.1

0.6

1

1.4

002 ngmL [PFOA]413.0 -> 369.0 Final Conc.=0.0220

6.1 6.3 6.5 6.7

2x102x10

2x102x10 2x10 2x10

2x10 2x10

22.5

33.5

44.5

5

002 ngmL [PFHpS]449.0 -> 80.0 Final Conc.=0.0162

6.1 6.3 6.5 6.7

0.6

1

1.4

002 ngmL [PFNA]463.0 -> 419.0 Final Conc.=0.0192

6.6 6.8 7 7.20.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

002 ngmL [PFOS 1]499.0 -> 80.0 Final Conc.=0.0157

6.6 6.8 7 7.20.4

0.6

0.8

1

002 ngmL [PFDA]513.0 -> 469.0 Final Conc.=0.0149

7 7.2 7.4 7.6

0.8

1.2

1.6

2

2.4

002 ngmL [PFDS]599.0 -> 80.0 Final Conc.=0.0235

7.3 7.5 7.7 7.90.4

0.6

0.8

1

002 ngmL [PFUnDA]563.0 -> 519.0 Final Conc.=0.0198

7.3 7.5 7.7 7.9

0.8

1.2

1.6

002 ngmL [PFDoDA]613.0 -> 569.0 Final Conc.=0.0342

7.6 7.8 8 8.21.1

1.3

1.5

1.7

1.9

PFOS 1 - 6 Levels, 6 Levels Used, 12 Points, 12 Points Used, 0 QCs

Concentration (ng/mL)-0.5 0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5

Resp

onse

s

x104

-0.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

5.5

6.5

7.5

8.5 y = 8622.337936 * x + 44.531882R2 = 0.99932992Type:Linear, Origin:Ignore, Weight:1/x

SummaryHighly sensitive QQQ, fl exible combination with different UHPLC systems and columns, and workfl ow-guided software make Agilent your trusted partner for you environmental analysis challenges.

Figure 1: A water sample spiked with 0.02 ng/mL PFC, Compounds-at-a-Glance view for fast review of large amounts of analytes/samples.

Figure 2: Linear Calibration of PFOS between 0.02 and 10 ng/mL.

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