Online Soil Column Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry for Studying Sorption of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Other Organic Contaminants
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Soil column chromatography (SCC) has been used to investigate the sorption of organic compounds in soils.However, its application has been restricted to compounds with UV or fluorescence activity, excluding many environmentally relevant compounds including numerous per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).Here, SCC was directly coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) to investigate the sorption of PFAS and other organic compounds.Using peat as model soil organic matter, the SCC-MS method demonstrated high repeatability and yielded organic carbon-normalized sorption coefficients (Koc) consistent with those obtained using UV detection.For neutral compounds and acids with high pKa, Koc values were minimally influenced by pH or electrolyte composition, indicating that SCC-MS with ammonium formate as the electrolyte can provide environmentally representative Koc data.In contrast, Koc of anionic compounds increased with decreasing pH and increasing ionic strength, consistent with enhanced charge screening and reduced electrostatic repulsion.For anionic PFAS, the Koc values measured here were lower than Koc values obtained with mineral soils and closer to those with peat in the literature.Together, these results demonstrate the applicability of SCC-MS as a tool for evaluating soil sorption, while highlighting the need to address limitations such as incompatibility with nonvolatile salts.
Source: ChemRxiv
Institutions: National Institute for Environmental Studies, Kobe University
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Chemistry
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7211909858