Rapid Separation and Quantitation of Isomeric Perfluoroalkyl Substances by Differential Mobility Spectrometry

全氟烷基物质（PFASs）是一类有机化合物，广泛用于许多消费品和工业应用，如织物防火涂料、消防泡沫和食品包装。由于C-F键的惰性，全氟辛烷磺酸基本上无限期地存在于环境中，通常在土壤和地下水中含量相对较高。在过去的二十年里，对全氟辛烷磺酸的关注一直在增加；这些物种可以生物积累，并可能对海洋生物和人类的健康产生不利影响。自2000年以来，全氟辛烷磺酸已在全球范围内被发现，例如在野生动物、人类母乳和一般人群的血液中。PFASs鉴定和定量的关键挑战之一是线性和支链物种的分离。碳链的位置和长度已被证明影响全氟辛烷磺酸的生物蓄积潜力和对啮齿动物的毒性。目前最先进的方法对异构体PFAS分析需要分析时间约15-60分钟每个样品和消耗相对大量的溶剂和/或气体。在这里，我们提出了一种基于差分迁移率光谱法和质谱法的更快、低浪费的PFASs分析技术。提出的分析技术将提高我们检测和监测环境中PFAS污染物的能力，并有助于土壤和地下水的修复过程。

Perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of organic compounds that are widely used in many consumer products and industrial applications such as fire-redardant coatings for fabrics, fire-fighting foams, and food packaging. Owing to the inertness of C-F bonds, PFASs are persist essentially indefinitely in the environment and are commonly found at relatively high levels in soil and groundwater. Over the past two decades, concerns about PFASs have been increasing; these species can bioaccumulate and can adversely affect the health of marine life and potentially humans. Since the year 2000, PFASs have been found globally in, e.g., wildlife, human breast milk, and the blood of the general human population.One of the key challenges in the identification and quantitation of PFASs is the separation of linear and branched chain species. The position and length of the carbon chain has been demonstrated to impact bioaccumulation potential and the toxicity of PFASs to rodents. The current state-of-the-art methods for isomeric PFAS analysis requires analysis times of ca. 15-60 minutes per sample and consumes relatively large amounts of solvent and/or gas. Here, we propose to develop a faster, low-waste analysis technique for PFASs, based on differential mobility spectrometry coupled with mass spectrometry. The proposed analytical technique will improve our ability to detect and monitor environmental PFAS contaminants, and aid in the process of soil and groundwater remediation.