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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Microbial and Chemical Food Safety » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424462
Research Project: Technology Development, Evaluation and Validation for the Detection and Characterization of Chemical Contaminants in Foods

Location: Microbial and Chemical Food Safety

Title: Method development and validation for analysis of 74 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food of animal origin using QuEChERSER method and LC-MS/MS

Author
item STROSKI, KEVIN - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Sapozhnikova, Yelena

Submitted to: Analytica Chimica Acta
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/18/2025
Publication Date: 5/19/2025
Citation: Stroski, K.M., Sapozhnikova, Y.V. 2025. Method development and validation for analysis of 74 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food of animal origin using QuEChERSER method and LC-MS/MS. Analytica Chimica Acta. 1364:344216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2025.344216.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2025.344216

Interpretive Summary: Analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food is important for ensuring food is safe for consumption. Food of animal origin is considered one of the major human exposure pathways. We have developed and validated a new method for analysis of 74 PFAS ranging across 15 different groups including legacy PFAS, short-chain alternatives, precursors and breakdown products in the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)-regulated food: beef, pork, chicken, catfish and eggs. The method is simple, robust and efficient, and can measure PFAS at low part per billion and part per trillion levels. The new method can be implemented in any food safety laboratory worldwide. To our knowledge, this is the largest method for analysis of PFAS in foods published to date.

Technical Abstract: The detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food is extremely important for ensuring safe food consumption however most analytical methods focus on only a small group of known analytes. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a new method for analysis of 74 PFAS ranging across 15 different groups including legacy PFAS, short-chain alternatives, precursors and breakdown products in food of animal origin. The method was based on “quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe, efficient, and robust” (QuEChERSER) mega-method and LC-MS/MS analysis. Validation was performed at, above and below maximum levels set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in beef, chicken, pork, catfish, liquid egg, and powdered egg samples. Acceptable recoveries were obtained for 72% - 93% of analytes using reagent only calibration curves across all matrices and concentrations tested. This increased to 84% - 97% when using matrix matched calibration curves. Method performance was comparable (or better than) US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) methods. Further validation of the method with NIST standard reference materials (SRMs) 1946 and 1947 resulted in accuracies of 71% - 112%. The validated method was applied to test catfish samples, and low levels of PFAS (0.020-2.24 ng/g wet weight) were measured in both farm raised and wild caught fish. These results demonstrate the ability of this method to accurately measure a broad range of PFAS analytes in multiple food matrices providing broad applicability and versatility to end users.