Oral Presentation Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Australasia 2023

Passive sampling and non-target analysis reveals new classes of PFAS in an AFFF-impacted groundwater in Australia (#33)

Sara Ghorbani Gorji 1 , Pradeep Dewapriya 1 , María José Gómez Ramosb 2 , Bastian Schulze 1 , Rachel Mackie 1 , Hong T. M. (Rose) Nguyen 1 , Christopher Higgins 3 , Karl Bowles 4 , Jochen Mueller 1 , Kevin Thomas 1 , Sarit Kaserzon 1
  1. Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), UQ, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  2. University of Almería, Almería, Spain
  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado
  4. Jacobs, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), as key components in aqueous film forming foams (AFFF), have led to growing incidences of environmental contamination. The aim of this study was to use suspect and non-target analysis (NTA) with the aid of passive sampling technology to detect a wider range of PFAS classes, not limited to a target list. A secondary aim was to test if passive sampling technology could retain uncommon and unknown classes of PFAS. A comprehensive analysis of passive samplers (PE) and grab (GB) samples deployed in AFFF-contaminated groundwater in Australia using suspect and NTA was performed. Through the application of an NTA workflow up to 86 compounds were detected in both GB and PE samples. PFAS subclasses such as chlorinated PFSAs, ketone PFSAs, and perfluoroalkane sulphonamides (FASAs) and their suspected transformation intermediates/products, were detected in passive samplers and grab samples at the contaminated site. Twelve ultra-short chain PFASs were identified and reported for the first time in Australian groundwaters. Two new classes of PFAS that have not been previously reported were identified.