Reem Khan, a Chemistry Ph.D. Clarkson University Candidate is one of three winners in the student presentation competition at the 31st International Conference on Soil, Water, Energy and Air, organized by the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences.
AEHSis a professional association that provides an international forum. Environment professionals meet to discuss and agree on a common ground to present and debate important information regarding soil, water, or air contamination. Increase awareness about environmental issues. The AEHS network includes professionals from the U.S. as well as abroad. It includes biology, chemistry and engineering. AEHS encourages international communities to adopt and sustain environmentally sound and sustainable practices. Every year, three winners are selected to receive a monetary prize and to attend the award ceremony at AEHS annual meeting. The presentation is judged by a panel made up of judges based on scientific merit, project value and student presentation.
Khans presentation discussed the development of an ultrasensitive low-cost method to detect PFAS in drinking water. PFASs, a group of man-made chemicals that are persistent in the environment and body and can cause adverse health effects, are described as a group. Because of their low levels, it is difficult to measure this class of chemicals. They must be detected at the advisory levels of part per trillion. To achieve higher speed and lower costs of analysis, and to provide remote real time capabilities, improved measurement technologies are required.
Khan is a graduate student in Professor Silvana Andréescus Lab in Chemistry and Biomolecular Science. Andreescu states that this award is a recognition and appreciation of Reems contributions to the development electrochemical methods for PFAS detection. Khan’s work is part a larger project, which aims at developing low-cost sensors that can more easily monitor environmental contaminants.
