Group members Eric (MSc graduate), Lindy (MSc graduate), Irina (current MSc researcher), and Leigh Crilley (past Research Associate) have developed a new passive sampling methodology for the acid degradation products of many volatile PFAS found in the atmosphere - perfluorinated carboxylic acids. This collaboration spanned the VandenBoer and Young Groups at York University as well as researchers at Environment and Climate Change Canada. It was published recently in the RSC’s Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts.

The developed method has ultra-trace detection limits at mixing ratios down to the parts per quadrillion level when deployed on the timescale of weeks. Using chemical selectivity via diffusion, these samplers can be easily deployed in a wide variety of atmospheres as they do not require electricity. We demonstrate their use in urban, rural, and remote atmospheres across Canada over two years.

https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EM00297D