Development of high throughput LC/MS/MS method for analysis of perfluorooctanoic acid from serum, suitable for large-scale human biomonitoring

A simple method for determination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from human serum by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) and utilizing high-throughput sample preparation was developed by New York State Public Health Emergency Preparedness Laboratory and used for biomonitoring studies. 50 μl of serum was mixed with a 0.4 ml of acetonitrile containing isotopically labeled internal standard, followed by phospholipid removal/protein precipitation. The extract was partially dried and analyzed by LC/MS/MS. The linear range of PFOA analysis was 0.5-100 ng/ml. LLOQ was selected as 0.5 ng/ml. The method was validated following APHL guidelines for LRN-C laboratories and about 6000 specimens were successfully prepared and analyzed using this simple LC/MS method. Due to sample preparation simplicity, the presented method can be used in large-scale clinical testing, such as public health surveillance studies.