CEE graduate research assistant Yanchen Sun won the Student Paper Competition Award from the Eleventh International Conference on the Remediation and Management of Contaminated Sediments.
Sun, who studies under UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair in Microbiology Frank Loeffler, was recognized for his research, “Is Adsorbed Bisphenol A (BPA) Degradable?”
“This research demonstrated the degradation of BPA adsorbed to solid matrices,” said Sun. “I am excited that the conference gives me the opportunity to share my research findings with professionals representing universities, government agencies, consultants, research and development, and service firms.”
Sun’s research showed that BPA can be efficiently degraded by manganese (III) ions, which are naturally present in oxic-anoxic transition zones. BPA tends to associate with soil and sediments particles and the research further demonstrated that manganese (III) ions effectively degrade BPA attached to solids.
These findings have implications for predicting and managing the fate and longevity of BPA in environmental systems.