Scientists Ditch Costly Cleanup Step in New PFAS Test for Everyday Products

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, have earned their reputation as the most stubborn chemicals of the modern industrial age. Their carbon-fluorine bonds are among the strongest in organic chemistry, which is precisely why they resist water, grease, heat, and degradation, and precisely why they persist in the environment and in our bodies for decades. These so-called forever chemicals coat food packaging, waterproof fabrics, cosmetics, plastics, and metal surfaces, raising health and environmental concerns because of their potential toxicity and capacity for bioaccumulation. Yet for all the alarm surrounding PFAS, the analytical chemistry needed to detect them in the products we touch every day has lagged behind. A research team led by Shih-Hung Yang at RJ Lee Group in Pittsburgh, working with Logan Miller and William Lipps at Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, has now introduced a new SPE-free test method for determining extractable PFAS in consumer products, published in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, that could change how laboratories screen these ubiquitous contaminants.

The central innovation of the new method is what it leaves out. Most established PFAS protocols, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water methods 537.1 and 533, depend on solid-phase extraction, or SPE, a cleanup step in which the sample is passed through a specialized cartridge that captures the PFAS molecules while letting other components wash away. SPE is effective for water, but it is time-consuming, costly, and poorly suited to the messy reality of consumer products, where waxes, pigments, polymers, and surfactants can clog cartridges and distort results. Few existing methods are tailored for consumer products at all. The team’s alternative applies co-solvation extraction, in which solvents are blended to dissolve both the PFAS and the product matrix simultaneously, followed directly by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, LC-MS/MS, without any cartridge cleanup in between.

Two additional technical refinements give the co-solvation approach its sensitivity. The first is large-volume injection: instead of introducing a small slug of extract into the chromatograph, the method injects a much larger volume, which pushes more PFAS molecules into the detector at once and thereby lowers the concentration needed for reliable detection. The second is co-injection of 0.1 percent acetic acid alongside the extract. This weak acid modifies the ionization behavior of acidic PFAS species as they enter the mass spectrometer, significantly enhancing both detection limits and the peak shapes of the PFAS signals. Sharper peaks matter enormously in tandem mass spectrometry, because broad or tailing peaks overlap with matrix interferences and make quantification unreliable. By improving peak shape at the source, the acetic acid co-injection allows the instrument to distinguish genuine PFAS signals from the chemical noise of the product extract.

The researchers evaluated the method across six consumer product categories: paper, plastics, fabrics, cosmetics, metals, and a residual grouping labeled other. Performance varied with matrix complexity, and the team was candid about where the method excels and where it struggles. In the relatively simple matrices of plastics and metals, recoveries of surrogate standards, isotopically labeled PFAS compounds added to track extraction efficiency, met quality control criteria of 50 to 150 percent. Recoveries of native PFAS spikes in polymer containers and aluminum foil ranged from 82 to 140 percent, with the exceptions of 3:3 FTCA, a fluorotelomer carboxylic acid, and 8:2 diPAP, a polyfluoroalkyl phosphate ester. These figures indicate that for straightforward products, the SPE-free workflow delivers quantitative results comparable to conventional approaches while saving substantial time and cost.

The picture darkens for more complex matrices. Paper, fabric, cosmetic, and other matrices adversely affected the recoveries of fluorotelomer sulfonic acids and of surrogates derived from electrochemical fluorination, the legacy manufacturing process behind compounds such as PFOS and PFOA. The most challenging samples, including cosmetic pressed powder, food packaging, athletic tape, and a dress shirt, substantially impacted the recoveries of multiple spiked PFAS. The likely culprits are co-extracted matrix components that compete with PFAS during ionization in the mass spectrometer, a phenomenon known as ion suppression, or that bind the analytes during extraction and prevent them from reaching the detector. The team emphasized that further optimization is needed to improve the recovery of these challenging analytes and to minimize matrix interferences in complex products, positioning the co-solvation method as a complementary approach for selected consumer products rather than a universal replacement.

Extraction technique itself proved to be a decisive variable. The researchers compared several extraction methods, and among them Soxhlet extraction, the classic laboratory technique in which solvent is repeatedly condensed and dripped through the sample for hours, yielded the highest PFAS concentrations. On the surface that sounds like a victory for thoroughness, but the team found that Soxhlet extraction was prone to matrix interference and to potential PFAS artifacts, meaning the harsh, prolonged conditions may generate fluorotelomer compounds from precursor molecules rather than simply releasing those already present. Prior analytical literature has documented how hydrolysis of fluorotelomer alcohol precursors can account for some of the unknown PFAS observed in samples, and the new findings reinforce that caution. Because artifacts can inflate apparent PFAS concentrations, the authors concluded that Soxhlet extraction has limited suitability for PFAS analysis, despite its raw extraction power.

In contrast, cryo-milling, the mechanical grinding of samples at cryogenic temperatures until they become a fine frozen powder, enhanced PFAS extraction when incorporated into the co-solvation protocol. The technical logic is elegant: freezing brittle products such as plastics, packaging, and textiles allows them to be pulverized without heat or chemical alteration, dramatically increasing the surface area exposed to the extraction solvent. More surface area means faster and more complete dissolution of PFAS trapped within the polymer or fiber structure. Cryo-milling thus solves one of the oldest problems in solid-sample analysis, the difficulty of extracting analytes locked inside intact materials, while avoiding the artifact formation that plagues aggressive thermal techniques.

The broader significance of this work lies in the exposure pathway it illuminates. PFAS reach humans not only through contaminated water but through direct contact with products, migration from packaging into food, and the shedding of fibers and particles into household dust. Previous studies have found PFAS in outdoor jackets, curtains, sofas, carpets, plant-based drinking straws, microwave paper packaging, and raw materials for paper-based food contact materials, and researchers have questioned how well product labels indicate the presence of PFAS in items used by children and adolescents. Regulatory agencies worldwide are moving to restrict PFAS in consumer goods, but enforcement depends on laboratories being able to measure these compounds quickly, affordably, and defensibly. A method that removes the SPE bottleneck could expand testing capacity at exactly the moment demand for it is surging.

The team, which also included Rachel Hale and Michael Deible of RJ Lee Group, designed the experiments so that Deible and Lipps created the study framework while Miller and Hale conducted the data acquisition and analysis, and Yang interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. Their self-funded study offers laboratories a practical new tool: a co-solvation workflow with large-volume injection and acetic acid co-injection that delivers strong performance for plastics and metals, honest warnings about powders, packaging, and textiles, and a clear roadmap for optimization. As PFAS scrutiny intensifies across cosmetics, clothing, and food packaging, methods like this one, transparent about both their strengths and their matrix limitations, will be essential for turning forever chemicals from an invisible exposure into a measurable, manageable risk.

Subject of Research: Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Monitoring

Article Title: New test method for determination of extractable per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products by solvent extraction followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS)

Article References: Yang, S.-H., Miller, L., Hale, R., Lipps, W., & Deible, M. (2026). New test method for determination of extractable per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products by solvent extraction followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 198(11), Article 1208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-026-16031-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s10661-026-16031-4

Keywords: PFAS, forever chemicals, LC-MS/MS, co-solvation extraction, solid-phase extraction, consumer products, cryo-milling, Soxhlet extraction, mass spectrometry, food packaging, cosmetics, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment