PFAS Analysis in Environmental Water Samples – How to Reach Ultimate Sensitivity

Analysis of PFAS is now an essential part of water testing programs and becoming a regular requirement for monitoring in environment and food sources. As regulations continue to be created and updated, the requirements for method sensitivity have become essential. Solid phase extraction (SPE) is one tool that can be utilized to enhance the sensitivity of a method by enriching the sample, prior to injection. The alternative is to use a direct injection method that relies on the sensitivity of the mass spectrometer. The direct injection approach is becoming popular, due to its simplicity and speed, which ultimately improves the efficiency and throughput of laboratories. Additionally, the samples are not subjected to as many solvents and lab consumables during their preparation, which significantly reduces the potential for sample contamination and solvent waste.

With the enhanced negative ion sensitivity of the new Xevo™ TQ Absolute mass spectrometer (MS), the boundaries of what is possible for the direct injection of PFAS in environmental samples have been expanded. The high-end MS, in combination with UniSpray; our smart alternative to classic ESI, has been proven to boost the sensitivity especially for PFAS compounds, enhance the ease and simplicity of the direct injection method for PFAS analysis to achieve the high standards of environmental testing labs.

During the webinar, the challenges of ultra-low-level detection of PFAS will be discussed while demonstrating how the latest innovations at Waters could help you overcome them.

Presenter: Jenny Davies (Principal Applications Chemist, Waters Corporation)

Jenny Davies is a Principal Applications Chemist in the European demo lab, based in Wilmslow. Her main role focuses on application development for the food and environmental sector.

With a strong background in environmental analysis and more recently working in the food industry. Jenny started her journey nearly 20 years ago in a contract environmental laboratory working in various positions from Laboratory Technician to Technical Director, managing multiple teams and sites. Having worked in many busy laboratories where productivity is paramount, she understands the importance of having robust, simple methods ideal to be carried out efficiently across multiple sites. She specialises in Persistent Organic Pollutants with a focus on environmental samples in soil, water and air.

As a former Quality Manager strong Jenny has exceptional understanding of quality and all requirements to adhere to ISO 17025. In addition to this she has been a member of a UKAS Flexible Scope panel in a food laboratory, giving her the knowledge of the different challenges in method development and validation for food commodities. Jenny channels this appreciation for quality into developing comprehensive and compliant applications to solve the challenges in modern testing.

Presenter: Kari Organtini (Senior Scientist, Waters Corporation)

Kari Organtini is a senior scientist at Waters Corporation and has been with the company for five years. She received her PhD from Penn State University in 2015 studying the occurrence of dioxins and furans in fire debris and their implications to first responder health. At Waters, Kari is part of the food and environmental applications team. During her career, Kari has developed applications using both LC and GC techniques for a variety of applications ranging from pesticides to persistent organic pollutants. She is currently the scientific lead for developing PFAS applications at Waters.

Presenter: Claudia Rathmann (Principal F&E Market Development Manager, Waters Corporation)