PFAS Analysis Beyond Water: Meeting the Challenges of Environmental, Food and Industrial Testing

As regulations evolve and PFAS analysis expands beyond traditional water testing, laboratories are adapting to new challenges across environmental, food and industrial sectors.

Laboratories around the world are facing a new reality for PFAS analysis. Expanding regulations, growing lists of compounds of concern, and increasing demand for analysis across environmental, food and industrial sectors mean many laboratories are being asked to do more than ever before.

While these changes are global, Europe continues to play an important role in shaping the regulatory landscape. Since January 2026, EU Member States have been required to monitor PFAS levels in drinking water and ensure they remain within EU limits. Regulatory attention is also extending beyond drinking water to surface and groundwater, soil, packaging and industrial emissions, as outlined in the European Commission’s overview of PFAS pollution and EU action.

Although requirements differ by region, the direction is clear: laboratories are facing analytical questions involving more compounds and a wider range of matrices. For scientists looking to keep pace, our PFAS resources bring together webinars, application notes and expert insights across environmental, food and industrial testing.

PFAS analysis is no longer defined by a single matrix or a single workflow.

PFAS analysis is expanding

For many laboratories, PFAS analysis began with drinking water. Today, the scope has expanded considerably.

Laboratories are increasingly working across drinking water, groundwater, surface water and wastewater, as well as food and food contact materials, cosmetics and personal care products, environmental samples, and industrial and consumer products.

Each matrix presents different analytical challenges. Water analysis can require trace-level quantification, while complex food and consumer-product matrices may require different sample preparation or broader screening approaches. Techniques such as total organic fluorine (TOF) analysis can also provide a complementary perspective to targeted PFAS measurements.

This diversity means there is no single analytical approach that answers every PFAS question.

As PFAS analysis expands beyond drinking water, laboratories need approaches that can adapt to diverse sample types and evolving regulatory expectations.

Learning from the scientific community

As laboratories respond to these changing analytical demands, many are exploring new approaches to longstanding challenges such as sample preparation.

One example comes from Severn Trent Laboratories (Bridgend, UK), which implemented a PFAS workflow using Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Micro Extraction (DLLME). The approach provides an alternative to traditional solid phase extraction and can help reduce sample handling and solvent consumption.

Laboratories interested in the approach can explore more information on DLLME and PFAS workflows.

Watch the webinar

Thermo Fisher Scientific: PFAS Analysis Beyond Water: Meeting the Challenges of Environmental, Food and Industrial Testing

Severn Trent / PFAS webinar

EFOX approach for environmental workflows: PFAS & emerging contaminants

Hear more about this approach and explore wider developments in PFAS and emerging contaminant analysis.

Watch on demand

The changing PFAS landscape

The changing analytical landscape extends well beyond sample preparation. Laboratories are simultaneously navigating evolving regulations, growing lists of compounds of interest, greater scrutiny of food and industrial materials, and increasing interest in broader screening approaches.

Europe illustrates how these trends are converging. Alongside drinking-water requirements, EU action extends to industrial emissions and food-contact packaging. The Industrial Emissions Directive imposes stricter monitoring of PFAS emissions, with reporting requirements for PFOA, PFHxS and their salts from 2028. From August 2026, EU rules also ban food-contact packaging containing PFAS above specified concentration limits, as detailed in the European Commission’s overview of PFAS pollution and EU action.

Changes are also underway for Europe’s surface water and groundwater. Updated pollutant lists that entered into force in May 2026 include certain PFAS, including TFA, among substances to be monitored more closely and subject to stricter controls under the EU Water Framework Directive.

The European picture also demonstrates why PFAS is no longer solely an environmental-water issue. PFAS have been widely used in products including food packaging, textiles, lubricants and batteries, while industrial activities that produce or use PFAS can contribute to environmental releases.

Globally, regulatory requirements vary, but the analytical challenge is similar: laboratories need the flexibility to respond as both the compounds of interest and the matrices under investigation change.

PFAS analysis across different sample types

Different matrices raise different analytical questions—from selecting an appropriate sample preparation strategy to deciding between targeted quantification and broader screening approaches.

Environmental and water PFAS analysis

Thermo Fisher Scientific: PFAS Analysis Beyond Water: Meeting the Challenges of Environmental, Food and Industrial Testing

Explore analytical approaches for drinking water, groundwater, surface water and wastewater, including automated sample preparation and multi-matrix PFAS quantification.

• Automated DLLME for environmental PFAS analysis
• Resource: Quantification of 61 PFAS across drinking water, groundwater, surface water and wastewater

Food and food contact materials PFAS analysis

Thermo Fisher Scientific: PFAS Analysis Beyond Water: Meeting the Challenges of Environmental, Food and Industrial Testing

Explore PFAS analysis in food and food-contact materials, including total organic fluorine (TOF) screening and evolving approaches to investigating fluorinated compounds in packaging.

• Enhancing PFAS analysis in food contact materials using combustion ion chromatography

Cosmetics / industrial PFAS analysis

Thermo Fisher Scientific: PFAS Analysis Beyond Water: Meeting the Challenges of Environmental, Food and Industrial Testing

Explore approaches for investigating PFAS and total organic fluorine in complex matrices such as cosmetics and other consumer or industrial materials.

• Total PFAS content in cosmetics using combustion ion chromatography

Explore all PFAS resources

Learn from experts

As PFAS science and regulation continue to evolve, knowledge sharing across the scientific community is becoming increasingly valuable.

Live from the Lab: Solutions for Environmental and Food Contaminant Analysis 2026

Thermo Fisher Scientific - PFAS Analysis Beyond Water - Meeting the Challenges of Environmental, Food and Industrial Testing 5.jpg

Join scientists from industry and academia to explore developments in environmental and food contaminant analysis. PFAS-focused discussions include regulatory trends, drinking water analysis, food-contact materials, workflow optimisation, source differentiation, and untargeted screening. Register to join us online or in person at one of our satellite events across Europe.

Register here: Live from the Lab: Solutions for Environmental and Food Contaminant Testing

Looking ahead

PFAS analysis is unlikely to become simpler. As regulations evolve and new areas of testing emerge, laboratories will continue to face broader analytical questions across environmental, food and industrial testing.

Preparing for the future isn’t about predicting every regulatory change. It’s about developing the knowledge and flexibility to respond as new compounds, matrices and analytical questions emerge.

How is your laboratory preparing for the next phase of PFAS analysis?
Whether you’re responding to new regulations, expanding into different matrices or evaluating new analytical approaches, staying connected to developments across the scientific community can help you prepare for what’s next.

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