Comprehensive Analysis and Environmental Risk Assessment of Benzotriazoles in Airport Stormwater: A HS-SPME-GC × GC-TOF-MS-Based Procedure as a Tool for Sustainable Airport Runoff Water Management

Abstract

Despite the numerous benefits of intensive air transport development, many activities associated with the operation of airports contribute to environmental pollution. The purpose of this research was the development, optimization, and validation of a headspace–solid-phase microextraction–comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–time of flight–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC × GC-TOF-MS)-based procedure for determining anti-corrosive compounds in airport stormwater. Optimized HS-SPME conditions include: 45 min extraction time, 100 °C temperature, 1.0 g salt addition, and 10 min desorption time at 270 °C. The developed procedure is sensitive, selective, accurate (recoveries ≥ 80.0%), and precise (the coefficient of variation (CV) ≤ 14.9%), making it a highly suitable tool for extensive airport stormwater quality monitoring. The validated analytical protocol was successfully used to detect pollutants, including 1H-BT, 4-MeBT, 5-MeBT, and 5,6-diMe-1H-BT, in stormwater from various European airports with different flight capacities. Throughout the sampling period at the investigated airports, 1H-benzotriazole was found in the highest concentrations, ranging from below the MQL to 467 mg/L. An ecotoxicological risk assessment revealed that 69% of the sites exhibited high risk levels (Risk Quotient ≥ 1). The developed procedure and carried out environmental risk assessments of benzotriazoles in airport stormwater enable an evidence-based approach to sustainable airport stormwater management.