Non-Targeted and Targeted Analysis of PFAS in Household Media from the American Healthy Homes Survey II

Household drinking water is a major source of PFAS exposure for communities with contaminated water supplies. Although mitigation of PFAS in drinking water is an effective remedy for this source of exposure, additional sources (e.g., textiles and consumer products) can also contribute to exposure. House dust can aggregate chemicals such as PFAS, serving as both an additional source of exposure and a medium which can be analyzed for PFAS presence. There is also the possibility of inter-medium transfer from water to dust (e.g., from cleaning) dependent on physicochemical properties such as volatility and logP. We analyzed the PFAS present in samples from the 2018 American Healthy Homes Survey (AHHS) II. AHHS II was initially intended to monitor changes in the presence of lead-based paint and associated lead hazards from hundreds of homes across the United States. While not considered nationally representative, results provide a large survey of PFAS presence and abundance. We investigated AHHS II collected tap water using both non-targeted and targeted analysis, and vacuum house dust using targeted analysis. We applied liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) with data-dependent acquisition of tandem MS spectra for non-targeted analyte identification. This presentation focuses on the non-targeted results and their interpretation in the context of the multimedia targeted results. Alongside heavily-studied sulfonic (PFSAs) and carboxylic acids (PFCAs), we have identified several classes of PFAS in drinking water from U.S. homes, including short chain sulfonates and fluorotelomers with various head groups, as well as other novel perfluorinated species. We will discuss spatial patterns in the observed PFAS as well as co-occurrence patterns. This study is part of a broader effort to understand household exposure to PFAS via alternate routes and classify PFAS based on their exposure route patterns using additional datasets. The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not represent Agency policy or endorsement.

Impact/Purpose

Household media can act as sources for PFAS exposure. This presentation covers non-targeted analysis of PFAS in drinking water sampled for the American Healthy Homes Survey II, and places that data in the context of targeted measurements in both drinking water and paired house dust samples.

Citation

Boettger, J., N. DeLuca, K. Miller, C. Fuller, K. Bradham, P. Ashley, W. Friedman, E. Pinzer, E. Hubal, AND J. McCord. Non-Targeted and Targeted Analysis of PFAS in Household Media from the American Healthy Homes Survey II. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry North America, Louisville, KY, November 12 - 16, 2023.