Testing for chemicals in water in plastic water bottles

[clairez93]

My idea for the science was to test for the toxicity and chemical contamination in water at various temperatures (to see if the common fear of drinking water left in the car is actually a cause for concern).

However, I'm not sure how to test for the presence of such chemicals. Are there specific sorts of kits out there that I can be able to purchase to conduct the experiment at home? Or would this require going to a lab of some sorts? (If the latter I may have to change my topic idea, as I'm not sure where I can find a laboratory to work in).

[deleted-71417]

HI,

I think your question is too general to answer. I suggest you try to define exactly what chemicals you are trying to detect, and then we can try to locate analysis methods to detect them.. I think you may be interested in detecting whether plasticizers are leaching into water in plastic water bottles, particularly when the bottles get hot., as some of these websites suggest?

http://www.cancer.ca/Canada-wide/About% ... sc_lang=en

http://www.prlog.org/10045964-plasticiz ... umers.html

http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/environme ... er0714.pdf

http://www.injuryboard.com/national-new ... eid=263458

The second question to think about is what is minimum concentration of the chemical you want to detect, as that is a critical issue in selecting an analysis method. When you can answer these questions, post back with your answers and we will attempt to help you find an analysis method to answer the question.

Best regards,

Barrett Tomlinson

[clairez93]

Yes, I am thinking of plasticizers that are leaked into the water.

Not too many website seem to specify however what the chemical name of these plasticizers are. Research has given me the names of BPA and phthalates as the one that are of most cause for concern. One website you recommended me talks about xenoestrogens, which I have never heard of. This may be interesting to test, however, I was thinking of detecting the BPA and phthalates, since this seems to be what most are concerned about. If there are any other types of chemical plasticizers that are toxic, I would be very grateful for their names.

As for concentration, I'm not exactly sure of a specific number I am looking for. I think I would be detecting for the minimum concentration necessary for the plasticizer to be considered toxic. What would this be?

[deleted-71417]

Hi

Bisphenol-A can be analyzed by high performance chromatography (HPLC) or GC-MS. Here are some resources:

http://www.intertek-cb.com/chemicals/bisphenol.shtml

http://www.discoverysciences.com/product.aspx?id=3036

http://chromatographyonline.findanalyti ... 976?ref=25

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ ... tetal.html

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchd ... 32034.html

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety ... nol-a.html

http://www.unitedchem.com/sitefiles%5Ca ... 0GC-MS.pdf

Here is a survey of analytical methods for diethyl phthalate:

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp73-c6.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_o ... 90c3d74900

http://books.google.com/books?id=wvsgwO ... is&f=false

So both the compounds of interest to you can be analyzed by capillary gas chromatography , GC-MS, or HPLC techniques. These instruments are widely available in college and industrial laboratories, though they are more expensive than most students could afford to buy for personal use. If you are interested in pursuing this project I would suggest trying to find a mentor who could provide access and training in use of this equipment. A projecct of this type should be well within the capability of a well prepared high school student if you cangain access to the required equipment and technique training.

By the way, here is some information on xenoestrogens, which include both phthalates and biphenyl A:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen

You have found a very interesting area to explore for a science fair project. I wish you every success with it!

Best Regards,

Barrett L. Tomlinson