Development and Validation of Analytical Methods for the Detection of PFAS in Vegetables and Fruit

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are manufactured chemicals used for their water-, grease-, and stain-resistant properties in a wide range of products. Efforts are being made to strengthen how PFAS are regulated to reduce their presence in both the environment and the food chain. These measures aim to mitigate potential long-term health and environmental consequences associated with exposure to PFAS. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) identified a lack of official control laboratory capacity in GB to test for PFAS in food. To address this, Fera Science Ltd was commissioned to develop and validate analytical methods for detecting PFAS in fruit and vegetables. This project would build on the previous FSA-funded work where Fera developed and validated methods for the detection of PFAS in products of animal origin. Overall, these methods will enable the FSA to assess potential health risks to consumers from PFAS contamination in food and to respond effectively to food safety incidents. The developed methods comply with European guidance. Ten different food types were selected to represent a broad range of fruit and vegetables. These samples were sourced from supermarkets and contained detectable levels of PFAS. When carrying out the method validation, as the concentration of PFAS added to the samples was increased, the number of samples in which the four EU-regulated PFAS analytes could be detected, also increased. Beetroot was the only food type that met the validation criteria for all four EU-regulated PFAS compounds at the lowest level. To achieve full validation at the lowest level, further screening of fruit and vegetables will be necessary to identify samples that contain PFAS below the lowest level of detection. Additional validation was attempted for 23 emerging PFAS compounds. However, due to issues with sample preparation and contamination, data for several of these compounds were incomplete. This will be addressed in future work.