Winner: Miss Sophie Singer
The investigation of sulfluramid’s transformations, and their behaviour in soil and plants
In this work the transformation behaviour of sulfluramid (N-EtFOSA) in two soil-leafy green systems is investigated. Detection and quantitation were performed using a high performance-liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS/MS) instrument using Electrospray ionisation (ESI) in negative polarity mode. Sulfluramid and transformation products were determined and quantified in the samples. Determined in all 3 matrices were: PFOA; FOSA; PFOS; and FOSAA. Furthermore, a novel transformation product has been found and its structure proposed. The novel product was detected in only the basil leaves, suggesting an interesting species-specific transformation. This report also outlines the capabilities of a high-resolution mass spectrometer.
