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A Comparison of the Genotoxicities of Household Products |
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A Comparison of the Genotoxicities of Household Products |
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I decided to find out if various household products can cause mutations in the apical root meristem cells of the horsebean plant. I also planned to compare the degree of the genotoxicities of these products. I used my prior knowledge of the process of mitosis and the potential genotoxic and mutagenic effects of some ingredients in household cleaning products to hypothesize in this experiment. The toxins can cause the spindle fibres to malfunction during mitosis, resulting in detached fragments of genetic material floating outside the nucleus. The meristem root cells divide constantly. I used this characteristic of the root cells to test the various products for micronuclei. I chose the RAID insect killer, Scrub Free¢â Bathroom Cleaner, Tide¢â Laundry detergent, and some Duracell AAA batteries as my test subjects because these products are very widely used by the public.
Before starting my experiment, I germinated and grew the beans in the same conditions until the roots are 1.5 cm to 3cm long. I encouraged the germination of the seeds by exposing them to natural light in an environment of 23 ¡¾ 1¡É. Then, I treated the samples in high and low concentrations of each agent. After waiting for six hours, I transferred the beans into Petri-dishes of water, and allowed them to soak for 24 hours (2 cell cycles). I treated them in a HCl/Ethanol solution to make the root tissue more malleable. Before observation, I dyed the roots in Methylene Blue for 5 minutes, and prepared each sample on slides for microscope viewing.
In my observations, I noted down the Micronucleus ¢¶ that each agent yielded. The RAID insect killer yielded the most micronucleus ¢¶, followed by the battery acid, bathroom cleaner, and tide. I also drew trendlines of the rise in MN¢¶ for each kind of agent from low concentration to high concentration in order to measure their strengths. The steeper the slope of the trendline is, the more potent the agents will be because its strength increases considerably in the same degree of increase of concentration. I found that the RAID insect killer to be the most potent genotoxin, followed by the battery acid, tide, and the bathroom cleaner.
My results can have many implications. First, the data showed that all of the products being tested are capable of producing genetic anomalies. I have also used single variable analysis as well as multiple variable analyses of my observation data to assess the significance of the effects of the agents on the cells, on a basis of one agent at a time, and of all of the agents as a whole. Secondly, users who have frequent contact with the RAID insect killer will have a high chance of contracting these genotoxins and developing hidden mutations. The same things could happen to people who have contact with water polluted with improperly disposed batteries. The other two agents showed much lower degrees of genotoxicity, but they still were capable of causing genetic mutations, just on a smaller scale.