Metrohm USA today announced Sarah Ortbal of The University of Alabama as the winner of the 2026 Metrohm Young Chemist Award, recognizing her impactful research spanning PFAS monitoring, non-target fluorine analysis, and promising treatment pathways. The award includes a $15,000 cash prize.
Image Credit: Metrohm USA
Tackling PFAS Across the Full Water Lifecycle
Ms. Ortbal’s work addresses PFAS at multiple critical points - wastewater treatment, surface waters, and targeted remediation - using both targeted PFAS methods and adsorbable organic fluorine (AOF) to reveal the broader fluorinated organic load that traditional methods can miss. Her studies documented PFAS behavior and recirculation inside wastewater processes, flagged contaminated chemical additives, and showed how non-target analysis can quantify up to 25× more fluorinated organics than targeted methods alone.
She further expanded statewide monitoring across Alabama (including upstream/downstream sampling near wastewater treatment plants) and added trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) to analytical capabilities given its prevalence at higher concentrations. For treatment, she evaluated activated carbon to pull PFAS out of water and a heat-driven chemical process to break them apart; lab tests showed loss of organic fluorine and overall PFAS reduction.
“Sarah’s project stands out because it doesn’t treat PFAS as a single-point problem. She’s connecting monitoring, analytics, and treatment in a way that moves the whole field forward - and that’s exactly the kind of practical, science-first innovation the Young Chemist Award is meant to spotlight,” says Ed Colihan, President and CEO of Metrohm USA.
Recognizing Young Scientists who Move Science - and Communities - Forward
The Metrohm Young Chemist Award celebrates graduate-level researchers whose work advances analytical science and delivers real-world impact. The 2026 selection committee recognized Ms. Ortbal for the breadth and rigor of her analytics, the public-health relevance of her results, and the clear potential for real-world implementation of her treatment findings.