effect-of-pollutants-on-phyto

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A couple more questions. First, why did you seal the jars? It seems that would limit the CO2 supply to your plants. Next, did you consider running the experiment for longer periods? Especially since it takes time for things like the metals to dissolve.

I sealed the jars so there would be no contamination of the samples, since I was doing the project at home due to COVID. It might have been a limitation that I would like to investigate further in the future, although since it was kept constant for this experiment, I believe the results were still accurate. The jars were also opened 3 times to take readings, so there was CO2 present in the jars for photosynthesis to occur. Also, I was limited on time in doing this experiment, and as such, wasn’t able to take readings over a longer period of time. In the future, I’d love to do month or even year long trials to see the long term effects of these pollutants on phytoplankton, and even on the health of mammals and other creatures, since marine pollution is such a prevalent and pressing issue for us as humans in this day and age. I hope this helped, please don’t hesitate to ask more questions if you have them. Thank you for your interest in my project!

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Hello Lauren,Sigma Xi judge here. Unfortunately, I cannot get to your ppt presentation... I get a 404 page not found error. Help?

Hi! So sorry about that! I just played around with the settings and it should work now. Here’s the link again!

https://www.slideshare.net/LaurenMcDonough5/effect-of-pollutants-on-phytoplankton-presentation

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Hello! Thank you for your interest in my project. This is part one of the video (I had to split it into two parts, since the video was too large to upload as one) of the quick rundown of my project, detailing its main purpose, the different pollutants tested, the results, and the significance. For more information, please refer to my slides presentation. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the “Ask Me Anything” tab at the top of the page. Thank you!!

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Part two of my video rundown.

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Marine pollutants used in this experiment

Algae, iron, gasoline, water bottle plastic, magnesium sulfate fertilizer, Scotts Turf Builder, organic fertilizer, granular pesticide, liquid pesticide, nitrogen-based fertilizer, grocery bag plastic, atrazine, antifouling paint, cigarette butts, copper, cadmium, lead, and PVC plastic

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Hi, I’m Lauren McDonough, and this is me from last year with my previous project! I am currently a junior at American Heritage School in Boca/Delray, but I do not have any current pictures of me with my research due to the pandemic.

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References:

Abboud-Abi Saab M., Hassoun A.E.R. (n.d.), Effects of organic pollution on environmental conditions and the phytoplankton community in the central Lebanese coastal waters with special attention to toxic algae. Regional Studies in Marine Science, Volume 10, 2017, Pages 38-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2017.01.003

D’Costa P.M., D’Silva M.S., Naik R.K. (2017) Impact of Pollution on Phytoplankton and Implications for Marine Econiches. In: Naik M., Dubey S. (eds) Marine Pollution and Microbial Remediation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1044-6_13

El-Sheekh, M. M., El-Naggar, A. H., Osman, M. E., and Haieder, A. (2000). Comparative studies on the green algae Chlorella homosphaera and Chlorella vulgaris with respect to oil pollution in the river Nile. Water Air Soil Pollut. 124, 187–204. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023A:1005268615405

EPA. (2017, July 07). Indicators: Atrazine. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-surveys/indicators-atrazine

Häder, D., &; Gao, K. (2015). Interactions of anthropogenic stress factors on marine phytoplankton. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2015.00014/full

Huang, Y. J., Jiang, Z. B., Zeng, J. N., Chen, Q. Z., Zhao, Y. Q., Liao, Y. B., Shou, L., & Xu, X. Q. (2011).The chronic effects of oil pollution on marine phytoplankton in a subtropical bay, China. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 176(1-4), 517–530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1601-6

ISEF Rules: Society for Science & the Public. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.societyforscience.org/isef/international-rules/

NASA (n.d.).What are Phytoplankton? Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Phytoplankton

NOAA, US Department of Commerce, N. (2009, July 27). What are phytoplankton? Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/phyto.html

Olguín, H. F., Puig, A., Loez, C. R., Salibián, A., Topalián, M. L., Castañé, P. M., et al. (2004). An integration of water physicochemistry, algal bioassays, phytoplankton, and zooplankton for ecotoxicological assessment in a highly polluted lowland river. Water Air Soil Pollut. 155, 355–381. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:WATE.0000026538.51477.c2

Roach, H. (2019, October 10). The Effects of Tributyltin on the Marine Environment. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://www.sciencebuzz.com/the-effects-of-tributyltin-on-the-marine-environment/

Smoking's Impact on the Ocean – How Cigarette Butt Litter Pollutes Our Waters. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://tobaccofreelife.org/resources/smoking-ocean-pollution/

Society for Science and the Public (2016-17). International Science and Engineering Fair 2016-17: International Rules & Guidelines. Washington, DC: Society for Science and the Public.

Walsh, G. (2006). Toxic Effects of Pollutants on Plankton. Retrieved 2020, from https://scope.dge.carnegiescience.edu/SCOPE_12/SCOPE_12_3.6_chapter12_257-274.pdf

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Abstract

This experiment sought to investigate which of several common marine pollutants had the worst effect on the photosynthetic productivity of phytoplankton by measuring dissolved oxygen levels. Algae, iron, gasoline, water bottle plastic, magnesium sulfate fertilizer, Scotts Turf Builder, organic fertilizer, granular pesticide, liquid pesticide, nitrogen-based fertilizer, grocery bag plastic, atrazine, antifouling paint, cigarette butts, copper, cadmium, lead, and PVC plastic were the pollutants tested in this experiment. It was hypothesized that known pollutants (atrazine and tributyltin (anti-fouling paint) ) would have the worst effect, while plastics and algae would have the least ill effect. Jars were sterilized and labelled, then accurate amounts of each pollutant were added to their respective jars. 200 mL of water and 15 mL of phytoplankton were added to each jar, and then they were closed. After 48, 72, and 96 hours, dissolved oxygen readings were taken using a Vernier DO probe. Out of these, gasoline, atrazine, organic fertilizer, liquid pesticide, granular pesticide, cigarette butts proved to be the worst pollutants, while algae, anti-fouling paint, cadmium, copper, lead, PVC plastic, and water bottle plastic all proved to be least harmful. The remaining pollutants fell into an intermediate range. The results partly supported and partly failed to support the hypothesis. There was significant variance between the pollutants, as shown by a one-way ANOVA test. These results have huge implications for oceanic health, as they provide data about how different pollutants affect phytoplankton, which can be used in the future to create regulations on the release of certain pollutants.