Saudi Arabia honors UC engineer, students with international research prize
University of Cincinnati researchers developed new ways to detect cyanobacteria toxins in water
image: University of Cincinnati professor Dionysios Dionysiou and his students will be recognized by Saudi Arabia for their work developing effective ways to protect sources of drinking water from toxic pollution. view more
Credit: Andrew Higley/UC
A University of Cincinnati engineering professor and five of his students will receive a prestigious international award this year for their work studying ways to address water pollution.
The Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water will be awarded to UC College of Engineering and Applied Science distinguished research professor Dionysios Dionysiou and his student research team.
UC researchers will receive the Creativity Prize for their work developing advanced oxidation technologies and nanotechnologies to monitor and treat emerging toxins and other contaminants of emerging concern in water. The biannual award recognizes cutting-edge innovation in water research. Five prizes in different categories are bestowed every two years.
“It’s nice to be recognized and for the work of my students to be recognized,” Dionysiou said.
Dionysiou’s research team in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering includes UC graduates Ying Huang, Wael H.M. Abdelraheem, Abdulaziz Al Anazi, Jiong Gao and Vasileia Vogiazi.
Dionysiou's lab has worked to detect and treat cyanobacteria toxins in water. Also known as blue-green algae, cyanobacteria can reproduce quickly in water inundated with fertilizer runoff. And its resulting decomposition can deplete the oxygen from the water, creating massive die-offs of fish and other aquatic life.
Cyanobacteria is highly toxic, causing rashes, nausea, stomach cramps and even liver damage if ingested. Algae blooms on Lake Erie in 2014 created a water crisis in Toledo, Ohio, which warned residents not to drink tap water. Boiling water tainted with cyanobacteria does not remove the toxins that can make people sick.
“Maintaining water quality is an important issue to protect human health,” Dionysiou said.
More recently, Dionysiou and his students have been tackling the problem of emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances commonly known as PFAS. It’s a class of long-lasting chemicals that have been used for years in products ranging from stain-resistant clothing to non-stick cookware and flame-retardant fabrics.
The widespread use of PFAS in everything from couches to camping tents to firefighter gear has led to its being found in drinking water as well as in the blood of almost everyone living in the United States.
“They make it into aquatic systems where they bioaccumulate in the food chain, so we must remove them to protect human health,” Dionysiou said.
UC graduate and awardee Al Anazi was ecstatic about the award.
“The prize means a lot to me personally,” he said.
While at UC, Al Anazi worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop nanotechnology material-based processes to remove sunscreen residue and other organic pollutants of emerging concern from water.
Al Anazi said ensuring clean drinking water is a fundamental human rights issue, made more difficult by emerging contaminants. Besides PFAS, he and other engineers are studying pharmaceuticals that get into water treatment plants and microplastics that have become ubiquitous in waterways around the world.
“Water is so fundamental — it’s as important as the air we breathe,” Al Anazi said. “Creating the right sensors to detect contaminants and the right treatment technologies to remove them from water will be increasingly important.”