An 18-year-old Washington student turned plant waste into a pollution-fighting sponge. Tests showed it removed up to 80% of chemical killing Salmon

A material normally treated as plant waste could become an unlikely tool for protecting salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Lakshmi Agrawal, an 18-year-old student from Bellevue, Washington, developed biodegradable sponge-like filters from waste fibres of the jute plant to tackle a toxic chemical that washes from roads into waterways. In laboratory tests, her filters removed up to 80% of the pollutant, while requiring far less energy and money to produce than existing alternatives. The project earned Agrawal a $75,000 Regeneron Young Scientist Award at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

How an 18-year-old Developed to Extract Toxic Waste From Road

The problem Agrawal targeted begins on America's roads. Vehicle tyres contain a chemical called 6PPD, which helps protect rubber from degradation. When 6PPD reacts with ozone, it can form 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-Q). The contaminant can then be carried by stormwater from roads into nearby streams. The consequences are particularly serious for coho salmon returning to spawn in urban streams around Washington's Puget Sound. Society for Science reports that in some affected streams, up to 80% of adult coho salmon can die before spawning, with previous research identifying 6PPD-Q as a primary cause.

She Turned Jute Waste Into a Sponge

Rather than relying on an expensive synthetic filter, Agrawal looked towards a plant-based material. She developed nanocellulose hydrosponges using waste fibres from jute, a plant widely known for producing strong natural fibres. Her project investigated whether these porous filters could capture 6PPD and 6PPD-Q before the pollutants reached vulnerable waterways. Laboratory tests using water containing tyre particles produced an encouraging result: the filters removed up to 80% of the targeted pollutant. The material also showed the ability to remove certain heavy metals and particles from water and can naturally break down in the environment, according to Society for Science.

The Numbers Went Beyond Pollution Removal

The potential environmental benefit was only part of Agrawal's findings. Society for Science says her sponge required 85% less energy to produce compared with current alternatives evaluated in the project. Its production costs were also approximately 98% lower. Those figures matter because a successful laboratory filter still needs to be affordable and practical if it is ever going to be deployed widely. Agrawal's work could eventually contribute to a scalable method for filtering tyre-related contaminants from stormwater, although the results reported so far are laboratory findings rather than evidence of large-scale deployment.

Her Invention Won Her $75,000

The research took Agrawal from Interlake High School in Bellevue to one of the world's largest competitions for young scientists. More than 1,700 students from approximately 60 countries, regions and territories gathered in Phoenix, Arizona, for Regeneron ISEF in May 2026, competing for more than $7 million in awards and prizes. Agrawal received the $75,000 Regeneron Young Scientist Award and was also listed as a first-place award winner in the chemistry category.

From Plant Waste to Cleaner Water

Agrawal's invention is still research, not a finished solution to the Pacific Northwest's salmon crisis. Questions of durability, real-world performance and large-scale manufacturing would have to be addressed before widespread use. But the idea demonstrates how an environmental problem created by one everyday material could potentially be tackled with another material usually discarded as waste. For an 18-year-old student, turning jute fibres into a filter capable of removing up to 80% of a salmon-killing contaminant was already a remarkable start. The next challenge is finding out whether the sponge can deliver the same results outside the laboratory.