Comparison of the ecotoxic effects of boric acid based and acephate based pesticides on Daphnia magna
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Zoology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Pesticide overuse is a common issue affecting people today. These chemicals are very important to the agricultural industry, however they are now being overused.They are extremely toxic to a variety of ecosystems. The World Health Organization has found that roughly three million pesticide poisonings happen annually, with 220,000 deaths worldwide. The purpose of this experiment was to test claims that boric acid based pesticides are not harmful to the environment by testing these pesticides on aquatic microorganisms and plant systems. The hypothesis was that if the ecotoxic effects of the Boric acid was compared with commonly used acephate pesticide, then Boric acid pesticides would show to have the least toxic effects on the populations. The ecotoxicity assay was be conducted with the use of Daphnia magna as test subjects for the pesticide treatments.The ecotoxic assay was performed with a 48-hour acute toxicity immobilization EC50 test utilizing Daphnia magna treated with boric acid treatments and acephate treatments. The ecotoxicity test results showed that boric acid based pesticides (M=2905, SD=1067) and acephate based pesticides (M=291.2, SD=122.3) do not differ significantly in terms of ecotoxicity towards Daphnia magna in terms of EC50 concentration, t(2) = -4.21, p >. 05. The hypothesis that boric acid based pesticides would be less toxic toward D. magna than acephate based pesticides was not supported, one cannot be declared more environmentally friendly than the other.
Recommended Citation
Rahman, Teebro, "Comparison of the ecotoxic effects of boric acid based and acephate based pesticides on Daphnia magna" (2015). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 161.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2015/all/161
Start Date
4-11-2015 10:00 AM
End Date
4-11-2015 10:15 AM
Comparison of the ecotoxic effects of boric acid based and acephate based pesticides on Daphnia magna
Pesticide overuse is a common issue affecting people today. These chemicals are very important to the agricultural industry, however they are now being overused.They are extremely toxic to a variety of ecosystems. The World Health Organization has found that roughly three million pesticide poisonings happen annually, with 220,000 deaths worldwide. The purpose of this experiment was to test claims that boric acid based pesticides are not harmful to the environment by testing these pesticides on aquatic microorganisms and plant systems. The hypothesis was that if the ecotoxic effects of the Boric acid was compared with commonly used acephate pesticide, then Boric acid pesticides would show to have the least toxic effects on the populations. The ecotoxicity assay was be conducted with the use of Daphnia magna as test subjects for the pesticide treatments.The ecotoxic assay was performed with a 48-hour acute toxicity immobilization EC50 test utilizing Daphnia magna treated with boric acid treatments and acephate treatments. The ecotoxicity test results showed that boric acid based pesticides (M=2905, SD=1067) and acephate based pesticides (M=291.2, SD=122.3) do not differ significantly in terms of ecotoxicity towards Daphnia magna in terms of EC50 concentration, t(2) = -4.21, p >. 05. The hypothesis that boric acid based pesticides would be less toxic toward D. magna than acephate based pesticides was not supported, one cannot be declared more environmentally friendly than the other.
