Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals used in a variety of industries (i.e. anti-stain and water proof materials, food packaging, firefighting foams) and are known for their persistence in the environment and human body. With more scientific works pursuing studies of these compounds, recently the general public has become concerned about their occurrence and effect. Current monitoring of PFAS employs mass spectrometry, primarily coupled with liquid chromatography, for assessing concentrations ranging from low ng/L (in drinking water) to high µg/L levels (in contaminated sites). This methodology has been demonstrated to achieve the required sensitivity and provide accurate and reproducible results but has limited applicability for fast measurements in the field. Hence, we discuss the opportunity of new field-deployable techniques and scenarios in which novel spectroscopy-based technologies could contribute to the advancement in PFAS monitoring.
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