Determination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in food and beverages

ABSTRACT

The determination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) in food and beverages sold in Turkey was carried out using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A total of 123 samples of selected food and beverages such as fish, meat, offal, egg, cracker, chips, cake, chocolate, vegetable, milk and juice were examined. The highest PFOA concentrations were determined in cow meat (5.15 ng g⁻¹), cow kidney (5.65 ng g⁻¹), cow spleen (5.06 ng g⁻¹) and chicken liver (5.02 ng g⁻¹). The highest PFOS levels were found in horse mackerel (52.43 ng g⁻¹), pike-perch (45.87 ng g⁻¹), sardine (42.83 ng g⁻¹) and black cod (41.33 ng g⁻¹). Fish was found to be major source of the PFOS intake, while meat and offal were found to be major sources of the PFOA intake.

KEYWORDS:

• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
• perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS)
• food products
• beverages
• LC-MS/MS

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.