Determination of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Vegetables by Solid-Phase Extraction Combined with Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

• • The optimized SPE-UPLC-MS/MS method achieves LODs of 0.002–0.103 ng·g−1 and LOQs of 0.007–0.343 ng·g−1 for 24 PFAS in leafy vegetables, enabling trace-level detection critical for dietary exposure assessment. • • At a 2 ng spiking level, recoveries range from 50.0% to 120.8% with RSDs of 1.0%–26%, demonstrating acceptable accuracy and precision for complex vegetable matrices, though variability suggests matrix effects for certain analytes. • • Application to real samples detected 20 PFAS, with total concentrations of 2.92–6.83 ng·g−1 dw; PFBA was the dominant compound (1.18–3.74 ng·g−1 dw), highlighting short-chain PFAS as a major contamination concern in vegetables. • • The method uses alkaline methanol extraction and ENVI-18 SPE cleanup, providing a robust protocol that balances recovery and cleanup efficiency, suitable for routine monitoring of PFAS in leafy vegetables.