A 30-year veteran of NC State’s Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) was recently recognized for his research on forever chemicals.

Detlef Knappe, S. James Ellen Distinguished Professor of CCEE, won the 2026 Trailblazer Award from the National PFAS Conference. The annual award honors those who have “inspired transformative change in advancing PFAS understanding and/or health protective action,” according to the conference’s website.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are an emerging public concern. The large group of chemicals have been used in everyday products like cosmetics, cookware and foodpacking since the 1940s. PFAS are widely referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are resistant to degradation and can remain in the environment and living organisms for years. 

Knappe has dedicated years to studying these forever chemicals. Notably in 2016, he co-authored the paper “Legacy and Emerging Perfluoroalkyl Substances Are Important Drinking Water Contaminants in the Cape Fear River Watershed of North Carolina,” which investigated PFAS pollution in the Cape Fear River and in the drinking water in the Wilmington, NC area. The researchers found the pollution originated from a fluorochemical production plant near Fayetteville, NC. 

“Our publication triggered a carefully researched investigative newspaper article that was published on June 8, 2017 in the Wilmington Star News, and that created widespread outrage in the community,” Knappe said. “Once the scope of the contamination became widely known, a number of regulatory and legal actions have led to dramatic decreases in PFAS releases from the fluorochemical manufacturer.”

Since the publication, the drinking water contamination in the Wilmington area has been greatly reduced. However, the groundwater and soil near the fluorochemical production plant will remain contaminated for many years to come, according to Knappe.

Knappe said it’s an honor to receive this year’s Trailblazer Award and be recognized for his years of work studying PFAS.

“It was very special to receive this award because it recognizes the positive impacts my group’s research has had on PFAS-contaminated communities,” Kanppe said. “I am proud of the many contributions of my students and postdocs over the years, who have worked hard to conduct the research needed to answer questions posed by community members, whether that is assessing the effectiveness of home water filters for PFAS removal or understanding the importance of the diet as a contributor to PFAS exposure in communities living near fluorochemical production facilities.”

Knappe continues to research the effects of forever chemicals in the environment as the Deputy Director of NC State’s Center for Environmental and Human Health Effects of PFAS.

This post was originally published in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering..