Analysis of trifluoroacetic acid and other short-chain perfluorinated acids (C2-C4) in precipitation by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: Comparison to patterns of long-chain perfluorinated acids (C5-C18)

摘要

A method has been developed to measure 29 perfluorinated acids (PFAs) including short-chain perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs) such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA;C2) and long-chain PFCAs,perfluoroalkylsulfonates,fluorotelomer acids,and two perfluorooctylsulfonamides in water matrices.The method involves solid phase extraction (SPE) using a weak anion-exchange (WAX) cartridge,an ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column separation,and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection.To our knowledge,this is the first HPLC-MS/MS method to determine TFA in water at sub-ng L~(-1) concentrations.The method is selective,simple,and robust,capable of measuring 29 PFAs in a single analysis,with overall recoveries of the target analytes ranging from 75% to 132%.The method was applied to the analysis of rainwater samples collected from two cities in Japan.TFA and several short-chain PFAs were the major compounds found in rainwater.