High-resolution mass spectrometry strategies for profiling fluorinated pesticides and their transformation products in environmental matrices

Fluorinated pesticides, particularly those having trifluoromethyl (–CF3) substituents, are increasingly used in
agriculture due to their high stability and efficacy. However, these characteristics lead to PFAS-like persistence,
high environmental mobility, and formation of fluorinated transformation products (TPs) including residues such
as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) which may exhibit distinct chemical and toxicological properties. This review
highlights how advances in LC-HRMS instrumentation, acquisition approaches, and data-processing tools expand
the monitoring potential for fluorinated pesticides and their TPs in environmental matrices. Targeted LC-HRMS
approaches for quantifying known pesticides are critically described, emphasizing key parameters, method
settings, and quality-control requirements. Suspect and non-target screening methodologies are then examined as
strategies that broaden analytical coverage to include predicted, database-derived, or previously unknown
compounds. Laboratory-induced transformation studies are presented as essential complementary sources for
generating TPs, providing HRMS data and mechanistic transformation pathways that significantly strengthen
environmental screening and annotation confidence. Overall, LC-HRMS is moving toward a unified analytical
framework capable of integrating target, suspect, and non-target workflows for comprehensive monitoring of
known and unknown fluorinated pesticides TPs. The studies and methodologies summarized herein offer a
conceptual and practical foundation for improved identification and TPs identification of fluorinated pesticides.