Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Well I made this project up, so I really am insecure about this. I think...actually I know I need help with the experimental design. So this is what I was planning to do.
First I was going to cut up a plastic bottle made with polycarbonate...of course you cant be sure as to if it has bisphenol... (one question there: can I get a product that I can know for sure has bisphenol?) but going on, Im going to cut the bottle by 5 by 5 cm and another square-6 by 6 cm. I will obviously have a control group which will have aquatic plants and some kind of marine animal...probably snails (or maybe you can suggest something that will be more responsive...some plant of animal that will be responsive to the bisphenol...or plastic?...something better??) Then I will have trial group which will have one 5 by 5 plastic triangle, and another trial group which will have the 6 by 6 triangle. i plan on observing the plants and animals to see if they respond to the plastic...or if the plastic affects marine life. I plan on measuring the plants and animals through viability assar of the plants, simple observation and measurement, and in the end through fresh and dry weight. (perhaps you have a batter suggestion on how to measure these things??)
REally looking forward to your answer
thankyou so much for you help.
!!

Hi Joenjwang,

This is a timely topic, and a good subject for a science fair project. I can tell that you have thought about the experimental details. Here are some suggestions that will help make this an excellent project, but there are some practical limitations to doing this type of experiment

First, you need to identify a product that is known to contain bisphenol A and ideally, you would want to have a known quantity. Quantitating bisphenol A requires sophisticated scientific equipment, and I don't know if you have access to a lab that would do this type of testing, or if you could get a manufacturer to tell you how much bisphenol A is in a product.

Next, you need to identify an experiment that would allow you to obtain measurable results showing the effect of bisphenol A on an organism. You would want to identify one test organism and measure the effect the various concentrations of your bisphenol A sample on the organism. Here is a website that reports bisphenol A testing:

http://www.bisphenol-a.org/human/polyplastics.html

Please notice that the researchers could not detect any bisphenol A in many of the samples, so using any polycarbonate bottle might not be a good source of this chemical.

I'm not sure this reply will give you the information that you need to turn in a detailed experimental design, especially if it is due tomorrow. Doing some additional background reading would probably give you an idea for an experiment. From your background reading, do you have any idea what you could measure in an experiment?

Donna Hardy

Well, I planned on doing a viable assay on the animals. and for the plants measure them before hand and count the buds, leaves every two days in order to see if they are healthy. Also, I planned on checking the tank for algae-which I learned if there is alot of algae that means that the plants are not healthy. Thank you for your response by the way!

Hi Joenjwang,

Your assay needs to be more specific, and related to the known health effects of bisphenol A. Here is a report that lists possible health effects of bisphenol A on the organism you select.

http://www.bisphenol-a.org/human/

For example, you would need to use an assay for toxicity, carcinogenicity, endocrine effects, or metabolism. Checking to evaluate the general health of animals and plants would not be considered a scientific approach. You would need to measure the number of algae cells, the mutagencity of the bisphenol A on bacteria, or something similar using different concentration of bisphenol A. Try to do more background research and look for a specific experiment that you could set up with your available resources. Doing both plants and animals would be too much work and would be confusing to present. Try narrowing your topic and select just one experiment that you could do really well.



Donna Hardy