Researchers from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed a method of detecting toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging, water, and soil samples in three minutes or less. The scientists believe their lab-based method could speed up efforts to address the pollution and accumulation of these “forever chemicals,” and could be useful in applications like public water quality testing. The new method provides results much more quickly than existing tests, with some taking hours for sample preparation and analysis.
The new method leverages paper spray mass spectrometry (PS-MS)—an ionization technique for analyzing the molecular composition of sample materials—which is 10–100 times more sensitive than liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, the current standard for PFAS testing.