Aspergillus niger Growth on Types of Common Drywall Materials
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Microbiology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Families around the world suffer from the effects of mold growth in the home every year. Mold is responsible for causing health issues such as headaches, coughing, wheezing, and watery eyes. Additionally, mold can aggravate asthma, lung cancer, or pneumonia. Mold spores are most commonly found growing on drywall surfaces. The purpose of this project is to find a reliable drywall material that can combat the growth of mold in the everyday household. To test how different types of drywall stand up to mold growth, thirty samples of each drywall material were cut into 9 square inches. These squares will then be placed into trays and the Aspergillus niger added to the surfaces of the drywall pieces. A colony counter will be used to record the measurements in square centimeters. It was hypothesized that the Purple XP drywall would prove to be most resistant to mold growth. The results support the hypothesis as the Purple XP showed the least number of square centimeters of mold growth. An average of 1.013 square centimeters of mold grew on the High Strength drywall. An average of 0.519 square centimeters grew on the Purple XP drywall and an average of 0.573 square centimeters grew on the MgO Board. Using the ANOVA one-way test the p-value of the High Strength drywall is determined to be 0.711. The p-value for the Purple XP is 0.810 and the p-value for the MgO Board is 0.955. These p-values exceed an alpha value of 0.05, showing that the results are not statistically significant.
Recommended Citation
Horman, William, "Aspergillus niger Growth on Types of Common Drywall Materials" (2022). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 13.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2022/all/13
Location
HSS 116
Start Date
4-2-2022 10:15 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
Aspergillus niger Growth on Types of Common Drywall Materials
HSS 116
Families around the world suffer from the effects of mold growth in the home every year. Mold is responsible for causing health issues such as headaches, coughing, wheezing, and watery eyes. Additionally, mold can aggravate asthma, lung cancer, or pneumonia. Mold spores are most commonly found growing on drywall surfaces. The purpose of this project is to find a reliable drywall material that can combat the growth of mold in the everyday household. To test how different types of drywall stand up to mold growth, thirty samples of each drywall material were cut into 9 square inches. These squares will then be placed into trays and the Aspergillus niger added to the surfaces of the drywall pieces. A colony counter will be used to record the measurements in square centimeters. It was hypothesized that the Purple XP drywall would prove to be most resistant to mold growth. The results support the hypothesis as the Purple XP showed the least number of square centimeters of mold growth. An average of 1.013 square centimeters of mold grew on the High Strength drywall. An average of 0.519 square centimeters grew on the Purple XP drywall and an average of 0.573 square centimeters grew on the MgO Board. Using the ANOVA one-way test the p-value of the High Strength drywall is determined to be 0.711. The p-value for the Purple XP is 0.810 and the p-value for the MgO Board is 0.955. These p-values exceed an alpha value of 0.05, showing that the results are not statistically significant.
