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 , 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.

中文翻译：

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使用全新优化的总有机氟方法和目标 LC-MS/MS 识别南卡罗来纳州地表水中的 PFAS 热点

全氟烷基物质和多氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 是令人关注的环境污染物，因为它们在环境中长期存在，具有毒性，并且在人类和野生动物中广泛存在。由于需要可靠量化的分析方法，有关环境中 PFAS 污染程度的知识有限，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污染物。为了进行更全面的分析，可以使用总有机氟 (TOF) 方法作为筛选工具。我们将 TOF 分析与目标 LC-MS/MS 分析相结合，创建了整个南卡罗来纳州地表水的全州 PFAS 热点图。 40 个采样点中的 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 种目标 PFAS 中，最常见的是全氟辛烷磺酸 (PFOS)、全氟辛酸 (PFOA)、全氟庚酸 (PFHpA) 和全氟己磺酸 (PFHxS)。平均而言，LC-MS/MS 仅占 TOF 测量值的 2%。 TOF 高的地点不一定与高总定量 PFAS 浓度相关，反之亦然，这证明了目标 PFAS 分析的局限性，并表明 LC-MS 可能会错过高度污染的地点。结果表明，未来的调查应利用 TOF 更全面地捕获水体中的 PFAS。