Perfluorinated Compounds: Occurrence of Emerging Food Contaminants in Canned Fish and Seafood Products

The contamination levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA), which represent an important subgroup of the environmental contaminants known as perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), were examined in 35 imported canned fish and seafood products (tuna, sardine, cod liver) obtained from the Czech retail market in 2009. An analytical procedure was employed based on a fast and simplified sample preparation using activated charcoal clean-up followed by a LC-MS/MS determinative step. The content of PFOS, which was the dominating pollutant, ranged from 0.7 |ig/kg to 12.8 |ig/kg, PFOA levels were in the range of 1.2 |g/kg to 5.1 |g/kg, FOSA was detected only at trace levels in two samples. Several products originated in the Baltic Sea were the most contaminated within the sample set.