PFAS

Current state of the art

For PFAS, the main issues are related to their ubiquity, which causes interference problems during sample preparation and the need to achieve trace levels of detection and quantification.
Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/1431 of 24 August 2022 [1] on the monitoring of perfluoroalkyl substances in food clearly states the required LOQ for the four individual PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS), ranging from ≤ 0.002 μg/kg to ≤ 0.040 μg/kg depending on the analyte and the food matrix. It further suggested developing increasingly sensitive analytical methods to investigate contamination levels of PFAS in the food chain. The national authorities of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden took the most significant move in the fight against PFAS contamination in Europe when they submitted a proposal to ECHA to prohibit PFAS under REACH [2]. The five authorities found risks related to the manufacture, marketing and use of the contaminants that are not properly controlled and need to be addressed by the EU and European Economic Area. ECHA published the detailed proposal, one of the broadest in the EU’s history, on February 7, 2023. A six-month consultation was launched on March 22, 2023 [3].

Progresses beyond the state of the art

Within the project, reference methods and reference materials will be developed to support industries and control bodies in the detection of PFAS in relevant food matrices and food packaging materials. The project will focus on combinations of food matrix/packaging, i.e. drinking water and vegetables, for which there are still analytical challenges. The outcomes are also expected to support the regulatory framework that, especially for PFAS, is constantly under development, both on the EU and global level. Different sample preparation methods will be developed that will reduce preparation times and consumption of solvents, without compromising the sensitivity and reproducibility of the analysis. The project will provide industries and stakeholders with validated analytical methods in relevant matrices, such as drinking water, blue food, vegetables with limits of quantification (LOQ) ranging from ≤ 0.002 μg/kg to ≤ 0.040 μg/kg for the relevant PFAS, depending on the food matrix. Besides already regulated PFAS, there is a need for analytical tools and reference materials for the detection and measurement of emerging and novel perfluoroalkyl substances (e.g., GenX. ADONA, PAPs, Fluorotelomer alcohols “FTOH” and sulfonates “FTS”). These molecules are known [3, 4] to be present in food packaging (both for functional purposes and as adventitious contamination), in particular in recycled materials.

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32022H1431
[2] https://echa.europa.eu/it/-/echa-receives-pfass-restriction-proposal-from-five-national-authorities
[3] https://echa.europa.eu/it/-/echa-seeks-input-on-proposed-pfas-restriction
[4] Schwartz-Narbonne H. et al., Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Canadian Fast Food Packaging, Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2023, 10, 4, 343–349
[5] Dueñas-Mas M. J. et al., Determination of several PFAS groups in food packaging material from fast-food restaurants in France, Chemosphere, Volume 339, October 2023, 139734