PFAS investigations are moving into air. As industrial, regulatory, remediation, and occupational health questions continue to evolve, clients need practical tools to evaluate PFAS in workplace air, ambient air, process-related air, and treatment system applications.
SGS offers a comprehensive list of PFAS air sampling kits and laboratory analysis utilizing LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS to support personal breathing zone sampling, industrial hygiene evaluations, area air monitoring, wastewater treatment plant assessments, remediation projects, and PFAS destruction or treatment system studies.
The interest in assessing PFAS concentrations specifically in indoor air spaces has increased as the prevalence of this diverse class of compounds in a variety of industrial applications has become more well known. Because there are all types of PFAS that are utilized in raw materials, products, or in machinery and equipment, the need for adaptable sampling and analytical methods is crucial. While there are no OSHA PEL values, there are three PFAS with ACGIH TLVs:
- Ammonium Perfluorooctanoate – 0.01 mg m3
- Perfluoroisobutylene – 10 mg/m3
- Perfluorobutylethylene – 100 mg/m3
SGS Sampling Approach
SGS supports a wide range of air monitoring solutions including a recently developed low-volume PFAS air sampling using a multi-media sampling train designed to collect particulate-bound and semi-volatile PFAS compounds. Depending on project needs, the sampling configuration may include glass fiber filter media, PUF media, and adsorbent media, with pump-based options for personal, area, or project-specific air sampling.
Samples are extracted in the laboratory, prepared using solid phase extraction, and analyzed by LC-MS/MS with isotope dilution standards. This method assesses ammonium perfluorooctanoate, as PFOA, and 48 other PFAS analytes. The other two PFAS with an ACGIH TLV are amenable to a GC-MS/MS approach using a passivated stainless-steel canister, also available at SGS.
Key Applications
- Occupational Exposure and worker protection – Personal Breathing Zone Sampling
- Ambient and Area Air Monitoring – fenceline monitoring to protect the public
- Remediation and Destruction Technologies
Flexible Project Support
SGS can assist with sampling design, media selection, pump coordination, sampling instructions, reporting limits, turnaround time planning, and project-specific analytical support.
Sample fractions may be reported together for routine project needs or evaluated separately upon request to provide additional insight into PFAS capture across the sampling train.
Why SGS?
SGS brings together PFAS analytical expertise, air sampling support, industrial hygiene experience, and a North American laboratory network to help clients develop practical PFAS air monitoring programs and generate defensible data.