You are here:
PFAS ghosts: how to identify, evaluate, and exorcise new and existing analytical interference
Citation:
Bangma, J., K. Barry, C. Fisher, S. Genualdi, T. Guillette, C. Huset, J. McCord, B. Ng, B. Place, J. Riener, A. Robuck, AND A. Rodowa. PFAS ghosts: how to identify, evaluate, and exorcise new and existing analytical interference. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. Springer, New York, NY, 416(8):1777–1785, (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05125-y
Impact/Purpose:
This commentary is meant to help give researchers new to the PFAS field the tools to interrogate their data and determine if analytical interferents are present. The goal of this commentary is to help to reduce potential for over reporting of PFAS in the literature.
Description:
With increasing public awareness of PFAS, and their presence in biological and environmental media across the globe, comes a matching increase in the number of PFAS monitoring studies. As more matrices and sample cohorts are examined, there are more opportunities for matrix interferents to appear as PFAS where there are none (i.e., "seeing ghosts"), impacting subsequent reports. Addressing these ghosts is vital for the research community, as proper analytical measurements are necessary for decision-makers to understand the presence, levels, and potential risks associated with PFAS and protect human and environmental health. To date, PFAS interference has been identified in several matrices (e.g., food, shellfish, blood, tissue); however, additional unidentified interferents are likely to be observed as PFAS research continues to expand. Therefore, the aim of this commentary is several fold: (1) to create and support a publicly available dataset of all currently known PFAS analytical interferents, (2) to allow for the expansion of that dataset as more sources of interference are identified, and (3) to advise the wider scientific community on how to both identify and eliminate current or new analytical interference in PFAS analyses.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: PFAS ghosts: how to identify, evaluate, and exorcise new and existing analytical interference