Suspect Screening and Nontargeted Analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in a Lake Ontario Food Web

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are globally distributed in the natural environment, and their persistent and bioaccumulative potential illicit public concern. The production of certain PFAS has been halted or controlled by regulation due to their adverse effect on the health of humans and wildlife. However, new PFAS are continuously developed as alternatives to legacy PFAS. Additionally, many precursors are unknown, and their metabolites have not been assessed. To better understand the PFAS profiles in the Lake Ontario (LO) aquatic food web, a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (QToF) coupled to ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) was used to generate high-resolution mass spectra (HRMS) from sample extracts. The HRMS data files were analyzed using an isotopic profile deconvoluted chromatogram (IPDC) algorithm to isolate PFAS profiles in aquatic organisms. Fourteen legacy PFAAs (C5–C14) and 15 known precursors were detected in the LO food web. In addition, over 400 unknown PFAS features that appear to biomagnify in the LO food web were found. Profundal benthic organisms, deepwater sculpin(Myoxocephalus thompsonii), and Mysis were found to have more known precursors than other species in the food web, suggesting that there is a large reservoir of fluorinated substances in the benthic zone.