Unravelling the PFAS puzzle with Comprehensive Targeted & Untargeted Workflows

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose an increasing threat to the environment, animals, and human beings due to extreme chemical stability and bioaccumulation potential. PFAS analysis is a complex problem that is best addressed with complementary targeted and non-targeted approaches. A comprehensive workflow was developed for the PFAS analysis in wastewater based on the existing EPA draft Method 1633 with additional PFAS of varying size and functional group. Strategies for sensitivity will also be discussed.

However targeted assays only cover a small fraction of PFAS. Therefore non-targeted methods and software are very important to understand the health risks of PFAS. We introduce our comprehensive software, FluoroMatch suite, which covers peak picking, annotation, homologous series detection, assigning confidence, and PFAS data visualization. We show different workflows which take advantage of Agilent's iterative exclusion approach, as well as integrate Profinder non-targeted peak picking.

Presenter: Tarun Anumol, PhD (Director, Global Environment Market, Agilent Technologies, Inc.)

Tarun Anumol is the Director for Global Environment Market at for Agilent Technologies. Previously, he was an LC-MS applications scientist at Agilent, focused on developing analytical methods for trace contaminants on LC-MS/MS and LC-Q/TOF in food and environmental matrices. Tarun has a strong history of working in the environmental & food testing industry, with a background in technical and applied science, with over 30 peer-reviewed journal publications in this area.

Prior to joining Agilent, Tarun graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from the University of Arizona with a focus on emerging contaminant attenuation including PPCPs, PFAS and DBPs in water reuse schemes.

Presenter: Emily Parry, PhD (LC/MS Applications Scientist, Agilent Technologies, Inc.)

Emily has been with Agilent for four years. Prior to joining Agilent, Emily developed methods for environmental contaminants in a variety of human and environmental matrices using both targeted and untargeted mass spectrometry techniques. She worked as a researcher at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Public Health Institute. She received her Ph.D. degree in Environmental Chemistry from the University of California, Davis.

Presenter: Jeremy Koelmel, PhD (Researcher at Yale University and CEO of Innovative Omics, Innovative Omics and Krystal Pollitt Laboratory, Yale University)