Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of other 4,000 man-made chemicals widely used in industry and consumer products due to their water, grease, and heat resistant properties. These same properties are responsible for environmental contamination and human health problems. One application that PFAS have been used for is in the fast-food industry to make grease-resistant packaging. The goal of our project was to develop an analytical method to extract, detect, and identify PFAS intended for fast-food packaging. Solid-liquid extraction (SLE) using different solvents followed by 19F-NMR analysis on select McDonald’s® and Burger King® packaging allowed for the possible identification and quantification of three common PFAS: PFOA, GenX®, and 6:2 FTOH. Only some PFAS-spiked samples showed evidence of PFAS, suggesting inadequate SLE or the concentrations tested were too low. Some non-spiked samples showed evidence of PFAS which is an important finding even though concentrations could not be quantified. Organic solvents performed better overall over purified water. Further investigation into PFAS-contaminated fast-food packaging is needed to infer whether this pathway of exposure can cause human health issues. To further expand and improve on this project, it is recommended to increase surface area between the solvent and sample, test more organic solvents, replicate samples, increase spiking concentrations and its range, and limit the time between sample preparation and NMR analysis.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Dziechciarz, Thomas
• Wandell, Colin
• Shimansky, Jillian
• Chase, Sophie

Subject

• Food
• Project-Based Learning
• Environment
• Well-Being
• Health

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 64541
• E-project-042722-164113

Keyword

• PFAS
• packaging
• fast food
• NMR
• solid-liquid extraction

Advisor

• Kmiotek, Stephen J.
• Bergendahl, John Andrew

Year

• 2022

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 3 - Good Health and Well-being
• 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

Date created

• 2022-04-27

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Chemical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright