Analysis of legacy PFAS and potential precursors in curtain, sofa, and carpet fabric samples

By Jérémy D. Liwara, Ana RL Araújo, Anton Pavlov, Jon E. Johansen, Huiling Liu, Jacco Koekkoek, Manuel Heinzelmann, Jacob de Boer, Pim EG Leonards, and Sicco Brandsma
Sci Total Environ
July 2, 2025
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180006

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of man-made compounds used, for example, as water and oil repellents to protect textiles and fabrics. Due to a growing concern about some of these compounds, industries have introduced new PFAS varieties with supposedly less harmful properties. In this study, different fabric samples from carpets, curtains and sofas (n = 30) were analyzed after a solvent extraction and an Envi-Carb clean-up for 81 PFAS, including legacy PFAS and 43 newly synthesized precursors, mainly perfluoroalkane sulfonamide derivatives by liquid and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry. In total, 28 PFAS were detected in the fabric samples. Fluorotelomer alcohols showed the highest concentrations in the fabrics (1-2329 μg/m²). Perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) and perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) were also detected but at lower concentrations (e.g., 0.02-1.71 μg/m² for PFHxA, 0.01-1.97 μg/m² for PFBS). Perfluoroalkane sulfonamide precursors such as MeFBSAA, FBSE, MeFBSE, FBSA, and MeFBSEA were primarily found in carpet and curtain samples, accounting for approximately 10 % and 24 % of the total PFAS concentration in these matrices, respectively. These precursors were predominantly fully fluorinated compounds with 4-carbon chains. These precursors mostly correspond to fully fluorinated 4-carbon chain-PFAS and may be in accordance with the higher use of shorter PFAS compounds observed in recent years but more samples should be tested to confirm this assumption.

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