PFAS, TOP, AOF

AGROLAB has expanded its comprehensive analytical scope of PFAS analyses and now offers the sum parameters TOP (Total Oxidizable Precursors) and AOF (adsorbable organic fluorine). These parameters can be determined in all aqueous matrices: waste water, ground and surface water, and leachates.

WHAT ARE PFAS?

PFAS are industrially produced organic compounds, with a fully (per-) or partially (poly-) fluorinated carbon backbone. There are both short-chain and long-chain PFAS, the best known long-chain representatives being PFOA (a perfluorocarboxylic acid) and PFOS (a perfluorosulfonic acid).

SUM PARAMETERS AOF and TOP

There are more than 4,700 known individual PFAS, thus a conventional analysis is not always effective, as not all components can be quantified by single-substance chromatography. This applies in particular to the polyfluorinated precursors and metabolites. PFAS precursors are partially transformed in situ and can be oxidized to perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCA) in the laboratory using the TOP Assay. This enables their quantification in aqueous matrices in the form of a sum parameter (TOP). In addition, the adsorbable organic fluorine (AOF) can be used to determine the total fluorine in aqueous media. The determination of these additional sum parameters offers the possibility to complete the single-substance LC/MS/MS PFAS determination.