The first report of Action C.1 (Environmental Monitoring of the project) has been completed. The document summarizes the actions taken to develop and make available the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the analytical determination and quantification of PerFluoro Alkyl Substances (PFAS) in the different environmental matrices involved in the Project PHOENIX LIFE 16 ENV/ES/000488. The SOPs, one of the deliverables of PHOENIX, are considered essential documents to produce reliable results in support of the project. The partners involved are Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e la Protezione Ambientale del Veneto (ARPAV) and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Ricerca Sulle Acque (CNR-IRSA) with their respective laboratories. The specific environmental matrices considered in PHOENIX Project are: water, soil, vegetable and animal organisms.

In details, to study the effectiveness of the technological tools (forecast and of mitigation) adopted in the operative Actions B.3 and B.4, reliable analytical methods are needed to determine the quantity of PFAS, the specific class of Persistent Mobile Organic Compounds (PMOC) considered as case study in PHOENIX Project. General analytical methods on PFAS were already available, known in literature and partially in use in the laboratories of ARPAV and CNR-IRSA. However, for the purposes of PHOENIX Project, it was necessary to adapt the protocols to the aims of the Project, hence obtaining fit-for-purpose and validated procedures for the specific emerging contaminants involved and for the environmental matrices selected.

ARPAV and CNR-IRSA has improved and refined the methods for PFAS available in literature in all kind of waters, in sediment and different soils, and in vegetable/animal tissues. In general, methods for the analysis of PFAS include an extraction step from the matrix, eventually a cleanup step on reverse phase according to the complexity of the same matrix and the final analysis and quantification with liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS) technique. The results obtained are shared with the other partners through the common platforms provided by the Project.

The produced report explains briefly the development of each analytical procedure obtaining as final outcome a specific detailed SOP for every matrix.