Assessment of perfluoroalkyl substances in placenta by coupling salt assisted liquid-liquid extraction with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction prior to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

• Published in: Talanta (Oxford) Vol. 221; p. 121577
• Main Authors: Vela-Soria, F., García-Villanova, J., Mustieles, V., de Haro, T., Antignac, J.P., Fernandez, M.F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.01.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Chemical Sciences; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Chromatography, Liquid; Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction; Female; Fluorocarbons; HBM4EU; Humans; LC–MS/MS; Liquid Phase Microextraction; Liquid-Liquid Extraction; Perfluoroalkyl substances; Placenta; Pregnancy; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction; Placenta; HBM4EU; Perfluoroalkyl substances; LC–MS/MS
• ISSN: 0039-9140; 1873-3573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121577

The widespread use of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is resulting in a broad human exposure to these endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), prompting biomonitoring research to evaluate its magnitude and impact, especially during critical windows of exposure such as fetal and perinatal periods. This study was focused on developing a method to determine 10 PFAS in placental tissue by combining salt-assisted liquid-liquid extraction with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Chemometric strategies were applied to optimize the experimental parameters. The limit of quantification was 0.02 ng g−1 for all analytes, and the inter-day variability (as relative standard deviation) ranged from 7.9% to 13.8%. Recoveries ranged from 88.2% to 113.9%. The suitableness of the procedure was demonstrated by assessing the targeted compounds in 20 placenta samples. The highest concentrations were recorded for perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate, with maximum concentrations of 0.62 and 1.02 ng g−1 and median concentrations of 0.13 and 0.53 ng g−1, respectively. Median concentrations of the other PFAS ranged from detected values to 0.08 ng g−1. This analytical procedure yields useful data on fetal exposure to PFAS. [Display omitted] •The proposed work could be summarized in these highlights:•SALLE-DLLME procedure for extraction of PFAS in placenta samples.•Use of chemometric strategies to optimize experimental parameters.•The method was applied to samples collected from 20 donors.•The proposed method provides significant improvements compared to previous methods.