A Comparison of the Effects of Benzalkonium Chloride and Cetrimonium Bromide on Daphnia magna

Lucas WyattFollow

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

11th Grade

Presentation Topic

Biochemistry

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Abstract

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the usage of disinfectants, namely, Quaternary Ammonium Compounds. QACs are often diffused into the environment through wastewater and other residual waters, and have a high risk of toxicity towards the aquatic organisms in the environments they are present in.The purpose of this experiment was to test the toxicity of two of these QACs which have not previously been analyzed for their toxicity by using Daphnia magna as a model organism. It was hypothesized that if Daphnia magna is placed in a solution of benzalkonium chloride, and in a solution containing cetrimonium bromide, then the solution containing benzalkonium chloride would have a more detrimental effect on both reproduction and mortality of Daphnia magna. Individual Daphnia magna were separated into 30 different containers of each solution. Both cetrimonium bromide and benzalkonium chloride were tested at a concentration of 38 µg/L, and tests were done over a 48 hour testing period, with both immobilization and reproduction of Daphnia magna being measured. The hypothesis was supported for both solutions with the immobilization trials, however, it was not supported for the reproduction trials, due to the cetrimonium bromide solutions having less reproduction than those of the benzalkonium chloride. A Chi-square test of independence was run, and found that in both the immobilization and reproduction trials, the type of solution had a significant effect.

Location

RITA 365

Start Date

3-23-2024 11:00 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 23rd, 11:00 AM

A Comparison of the Effects of Benzalkonium Chloride and Cetrimonium Bromide on Daphnia magna

RITA 365

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the usage of disinfectants, namely, Quaternary Ammonium Compounds. QACs are often diffused into the environment through wastewater and other residual waters, and have a high risk of toxicity towards the aquatic organisms in the environments they are present in.The purpose of this experiment was to test the toxicity of two of these QACs which have not previously been analyzed for their toxicity by using Daphnia magna as a model organism. It was hypothesized that if Daphnia magna is placed in a solution of benzalkonium chloride, and in a solution containing cetrimonium bromide, then the solution containing benzalkonium chloride would have a more detrimental effect on both reproduction and mortality of Daphnia magna. Individual Daphnia magna were separated into 30 different containers of each solution. Both cetrimonium bromide and benzalkonium chloride were tested at a concentration of 38 µg/L, and tests were done over a 48 hour testing period, with both immobilization and reproduction of Daphnia magna being measured. The hypothesis was supported for both solutions with the immobilization trials, however, it was not supported for the reproduction trials, due to the cetrimonium bromide solutions having less reproduction than those of the benzalkonium chloride. A Chi-square test of independence was run, and found that in both the immobilization and reproduction trials, the type of solution had a significant effect.