Analysis of Ultrashort Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Fruits and Vegetables

Short and ultrashort per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), are posing a growing concern due to their high persistence, mobility, and increasing levels in the environment. This study developed and validated a method to analyze seven such PFAS in fruits and vegetables at three spiking levels with five replicates each. Recoveries of PFAS with matched isotopically labeled internal standards were 70-107% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) ≤ 15%. The validated method was applied to test 103 samples of fruits and vegetables from the USA. TFA was the only PFAS found in all samples with concentrations ranging from 1 to 625 ng/g. Calculated daily intakes of TFA were below the acceptable daily intake value of 0.05 mg/kg set up by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). To our knowledge, this is the first report of TFA in fruits and vegetables in the USA.