Automated analysis of perfluorinated compounds in human hair and urine samples by turbulent flow chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are ubiquitous contaminants of humans and animals worldwide. PFCs are bioaccumulated because of their affinity for proteins. It has been shown they could have a variety of toxicological effects and cause damage to human health, emphasizing the need for sensitive and robust analytical methods to assess their bioaccumulation in humans. In this paper we report the development and validation of an analytical method for analysis of PFCs in the non-invasive human matrices hair and urine. The method is based on rapid and simple sample pre-treatment followed by online turbulent flow liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (TFC-LC-MS-MS) for analysis of 21 PFCs. The method was validated for both matrices. Percentage recovery was between 60 and 105 for most compounds in both matrices. Limits of quantification ranged from 0.1 to 9 ng mL(-1) in urine and from 0.04 to 13.4 in hair. The good performance of the method was proved by investigating the presence of selected PFCs in 24 hair and 30 urine samples from different donors living in Barcelona (NE Spain). The results were indicative of bioaccumulation of these compounds in both types of sample. PFOS and PFOA were most frequently detected in hair and PFBA in urine.