Analysis of Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) in Water using a Delay Column and an On-line SPE LC-MS/MS System

To ensure the safety of the citizens of Daegu with respect to drinking water sources, we continuously monitored trace pollutants in the Nakdong River basin. Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) had been detected in the Nakdong River previously; thus, further low-concentration detection is required. We developed an LC-MS/MS analysis method using the online SPE approach for fast and simple detection of low-concentration PFCs. In this process, a delay column was used to assess PFC contamination. As a result, quality control analysis of eight standard PFCs using this method showed strong correlations, with correlation coefficients of 0.991 and more, and the limit of quantification was 0.5 to 1.7 ng/L. The recovery rates of PFCs from samples ranged from 75.3% ± 1.23% to 118.0% ± 1.39%, suggesting robustness of this method. Analyses of PFC at seven sampling points in the Nakdong River basin showed high PFC concentrations at the point where effluent from a sewage treatment plant was introduced. PFHxS, PFOA, and PFOS values, which were used as drinking water monitoring standards of treated water at the Daegu advanced water treatment plant, did not exceed the monitoring standards. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the established method is appropriate as an analytical tool for assessing low-concentration PFCs in drinking water.