PFAS Concentrations Using Quantitative PIGE

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made chemicals that have become a major environmental concern. They can be found in a broad range of everyday products and pose a significant risk to the public due to their adverse health effects. They are persistent, bioaccumulate and do not break down in the environment. This project specifically aims to determine the concentration of fluorine (F), a key identifier of PFAS, in environmental samples due to the use of fire foam. While it is well-known that some fire foams contain PFAS, we aim to be able to detect and measure F concentrations in samples collected in PFAS affected areas. To do this, we employ proton induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) to qualitatively screen for F within our samples. PIGE is performed at the Union College Ion Beam Analysis Laboratory using a 1.1-MV tandem Pelletron accelerator. Samples are bombarded in an ex-vacuo setup with an incident energy of 1.8 MeV and emitted gamma-rays are detected with a high-purity Ge detector. We have detected gamma-rays from F in prepared NaF standards, fire-foam and soil targets. We have developed a method to quantitatively determine concentrations of F within samples. Intensity versus gamma-ray energy spectra and preliminary concentration results will be presented.