A modified TOP assay to detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) and soil

Total oxidisable precursor (TOP) assay can oxidise some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and their precursors, most of which cannot be quantitatively detected so far, and convert them to detectable PFASs, such as perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). However, the conversion is constrained by the complexity of the target samples, including co-existent organics, unknown PFAS precursors, and background. In this study, the TOP assay is modified to increase the oxidation and conversion efficiency by changing the initial concentration of target sample, increasing oxidising doses, time, temperature, etc. The modified TOP assay is applied to test several aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) and a PFAS-contaminated soil extract. The sum concentrations of the detectable PFASs are increased by up to similar to 534x in the AFFF samples and similar to 7x in the PFAS-contaminated soil extract. The detectable fluorotelomer sulfonate (FTS, such as 6:2/8:2 FTS) is accounted as an oxidation indicator to monitor the oxidation and conversion progress of the oxidisable PFASs precursors to the detectable PFASs. Overall, the modified TOP assay could be an appropriate method for identifying missing PFASs mass in complex matrices by detecting the PFASs precursors effectively.

Automated summary

This study modified the Total Oxidable Precursor (TOP) assay to improve oxidation and conversion efficiency by adjusting the initial concentration of the target sample, increasing oxidising doses, time, temperature, etc. The modified TOP assay was used to test aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) and a PFAS-contaminated soil extract, resulting in a significant increase in the sum concentrations of detectable PFASs. Detectable fluorotelomer sulfonate (FTS) was used as an oxidation indicator to monitor the progress of oxidation and conversion from precursor PFASs to detectable PFASs.