Due to their unique properties, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are found products including non-stick coatings in cookwear, stain repellent coatings in clothing and carpet, detergents, food packaging products and firefighting foam to name a few. These man-made compounds have been used for decades in industrial and manufacturing process. They have been found to be extremely persistent and bioaccumulative and pose potential health hazards to humans and wildlife through long-term exposure. Consequently, these compounds, including PFOA, PFOS, GenX and others have been widely detected in drinking water, wastewater, soils, blood serum and food stuff throughout the globe.

Agilent continues to lead the effort to analyze PFAS compounds in the environment. Agilent offers a complete PFAS workflow including sample preparation, background elimination techniques, chromatography, mass spectrometry, data analysis and consulting services that, when combined enable easy method setup and rapid, reliable and robust data for your laboratory.

The Agilent InfinityLab PFC Delay Column was designed and tested to efficiently delay elution of per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFC or PFAS) released from pump parts, solvent lines and solvents that would interfere with detection and quantification of PFC in samples, e.g. drinking water. This product is recommended to be used with the InfinityLab PFC-free LC conversion Kit (5004-0006). The InfinityLab PFAS Delay Column is not an analytical column and is installed in the pump.

The Agilent InfinityLab PFAS Delay Column is designed to minimise background interference from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) originating from solvent lines, pump components, and mobile phases. Installed in the LC pump rather than used as an analytical column, it functions by delaying the elution of trace PFAS contaminants so that they do not co-elute with target analytes. This enables more reliable detection and quantification in demanding applications such as environmental, food, and drinking water analysis. The delay column is optimised for use alongside the Agilent InfinityLab PFC-free LC Conversion Kit (5004-0006), which reduces background PFAS by replacing critical LC system components that contain organic fluorine compounds with PFAS-free alternatives.

With dimensions of 4.6 × 30 mm and a pressure tolerance of up to 1200 bar, the column is compatible with both conventional HPLC and UHPLC methods, including those employing sub-2 µm particle columns. Its stationary phase provides effective retention of background PFAS species, ensuring baseline separation from sample peaks without contributing significant additional system backpressure. For optimal performance, routine replacement is advised – typically within six months or sooner if background peaks begin to encroach upon analyte retention windows.

For the analysis of ultra-short-chain PFAS compounds, this column is not recommended; instead, the newly developed Poroshell PFAS delay column should be used, as it provides a cleaner baseline and enables clearer identification of C1 - C3 PFAS, particularly when paired with the Altura Poroshell 120 PFAS analytical column.