Detection of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in High-Protein Food Products

Abstract Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) belong to the emerging class of persistent organohalogenated contaminants in the environment. We determined the levels of 10 PFAS in selected samples representing different food types, with a special focus on those rich in protein such as fish, meat and meat preparations, liver, eggs, and leguminous vegetables. Such determinations were based on the Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged Safe extraction procedure followed by micro-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The most frequently found was perfluorooctanoic acid, in 84% of the food samples. However, its maximum measured concentration was 0.50 ng g–1, in a herring sample. The highest concentrations were for perfluorobutanoic acid (35 ng g–1 measured in a pork liver sample) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (12 ng g–1 measured in a herring sample). Because these compounds may bioaccumulate in human tissues by dietary intake, further research into their impact on human health is called for. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2589–2598. © 2023 SETAC