DETERMINATION OF PERFLUOROOCTANE SULFONATE AND PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID IN THE RHINE RIVER, GERMANY

Abstract

In recent years, perfluorinated organic compounds
have appeared as a new class of global pollutants, being
widely distributed in many environmental matrices, including
those in remote locations. Besides being an industrially
important group of compounds, they are regarded as
persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals. The aim
of this study is to determine the levels of perfluorooctane
sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in
drinking water, river water and selected fish species from
the Rhine river area. The compounds were isolated by liquid–
liquid extraction from fish and solid-phase extraction
from water samples. Identification and quantification of the
target analytes were achieved by high performance liquid
chromatography – negative-ion electrospray ionization –
tandem mass spectrometry. The method gave recoveries
ranging from 72 to 111 %. Perfluorinated compounds were
detected in most river and drinking water samples at concentrations
ranging between 0.4 - 5.2 ng L-1 for PFOA and
0.4 - 7.5 ng L-1 for PFOS. PFOS levels in trout and roach
fish were 3.1 ng g-1 and 2.1 ng g-1, respectively, in liver
samples.