Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of manufactured organic compounds that are used for a wide array of applications and products. The environmental prevalence and bioaccumulation of these compounds can lead to contamination of produce and other commodities meant for human consumption. In this application, a workflow was developed for the analysis of 28 PFAS compounds in milk that resolves the target PFAS from potential bile acid interferences that share the same mass transition. To prepare samples, a QuEChERS approach coupled with dSPE was implemented. This workflow returned exceptional results for the four PFAS compounds required in the Guidance Document on Analytical Parameters for the Determination of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Food and Feed released by the European Union Reference Laboratory for Halogenated POPs in Feed and Food. Recoveries for the four main PFAS compounds ranged from 100.7–113.0% and %RSD of 2.56–16.6% with acceptable method accuracy and precision results achieved for the majority of other compounds also monitored. While detectable levels of bile acid interferences were not observed in tested milk samples, the chromatographic method developed herein is suitable to apply to other matrix samples of animal origin for the detection of PFAS compounds where high levels of bile acids may be present.
The Analysis of PFAS in Milk by LC-MS/MS
05 Nov 2025
Authors
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Diego is the product manager for sample preparation at Restek Corporation. He has over 10 years of experience in liquid chromatography for both chiral and achiral separations and holds a PhD in chemistry from The University of Texas at Arlington.
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Jamie York is a scientist in the Applications Lab at Restek Corporation in the LC Solutions department, where she works on the development of novel applications for the food, clinical, and cannabis markets. She earned her PhD in chemistry from The University of Texas at Arlington in 2019. There, she mastered many analytical techniques including gas chromatography–vacuum ultraviolet; gas chromatography–mass spectrometry; matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization; and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry with a focus on food and environmental research. Jamie continued her post-doctoral work at The University of Texas at Arlington with a focus on the analysis of mammalian cell culture media by LC-MS/MS.
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