Due to the constant development of humanity and consequently also industry and the desire to protect crops, facilities and means of transport, we have introduced into the environment many unnecessary and undesirable substances that pose a potential risk to microorganisms, plants, animals and last but not least to humans. In recent years, a relatively new concept called "contaminants of emerging concern" has been used in the field of environmental chemistry, with which we want to highlight environmental pollutants to which we have not paid any special attention until recently. These include pharmaceutical ingredients, drugs, pesticides, food additives, nanomaterials, etc. Polar benzotriazoles are also classified as emerging pollutants. These are organic heterocyclic compounds that are chemically stable, well soluble in water and resistant to biodegradation. Their increased concentrations were most often recorded in the vicinity of airports, as they are used as anti-corrosion agents and in liquids for removing ice and anti-freeze aircraft. In my work, I highlighted some extraction techniques we use to determine polar benzotriazoles in solid environmental samples (soil and sediments). Of all of these, I find it important to highlight in particular those that are considered “green chemistry” and that consume little energy, solvent and time. These are microwave and ultrasonic extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, and hot water extraction at elevated pressure. It should be taken into consideration that these are relatively expensive technological processes, so their use in practice is not yet widespread, but we can assume that this will change due to technological progress, increasing environmental awareness and stricter environmental legislation.
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