Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level Lab Report

Hello, everyone! These last few weeks in Honors Environmental Science have been quite exciting! We've spent our time in class compelleting this Lowest ObservableAdverse Effect Level lab. See below to find out more!

Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level Lab Report

Introduction:

The purpose behind this lab is to determine the lowest observable adverse effect level of Mr. Clean brand multi-purpose household cleaner on red winter wheat. This anthropogenic pollutant affects the surrounding ecosystem when released into the environment, our goal is to determine just how much multi-purpose cleaner can be released into a particular ecosystem before an adverse effect becomes noticeable. We hypothesize that Plant B, the plant receiving the 12% solution of Mr. Clean, will display the lowest observable adverse effect level.

Materials:

1. 150 hard red winter wheat seeds
2. 15 plant pots
3. Water
4. Soil
5. Drip Tray
6. Mr. Clean Multi-Purpose Household Cleaner
7. 100 mL or Larger Beaker
8. 10 mL Graduated Cylinder
9. Eye Dropper
10. Sticky Notes
11. Pen

Procedure:

1. Gather all materials. Align the 15 plant pots into three rows of five within the drip tray. In each row, assign a control and then label the remaining plants A - D.
2. Pour soil into all 15 plant pots. Fill pots approximately one inch down from the brim.
3. Plant red winter wheat ten seeds per pot. Once planted, place plants by a window with adequate sunlight.
4. Water each pot once every few days with the corresponding solution of Mr. Clean Multi-Purpose Cleaner and water.  
5. Each pot will be watered with exactly 50 mL of tap water. The control pot will be watered with pure tap water only. Plants A-D will be watered with the tap water in addition to a certain amount of Mr. Clean. See directed amounts. Only water when soil is mostly dry. If soil is damp, refrain from watering.
1. Control = 50 mL water only
2. Plant A = 50 mL water + 3 mL Mr. Clean (6% of 50 mL)
3. Plant B = 50 mL water + 6 mL Mr. Clean (12% of 50 mL)
4. Plant C = 50 mL water + 9 mL Mr. Clean (18% of 50 mL)
5. Plant D = 50 mL water + 12 mL Mr. Clean (24 % of 50 mL)
6. Record data day by day. Note the height of the tallest and shortest plant for each plant type (Control, A, etc.). Also make note of plant conditions such as their coloring and the dampness of the soil. Record for approximately two weeks.

Results:

In our experiment, we discovered that the lowest observable adverse effect level lies somewhere between 18% and 24%. Plant D, the plant receiving the 24% solution, was the first to show adverse effects. The Plant D plants were relatively shorter compared to the others. In our observations, it was quite clear visually that Plant D plants were smaller in size and fewer had sprouted overall. Therefore, our hypothesis is incorrect.  

Discussion:

While we believe our results to be accurate, if we were to complete this experiment a second time, we would change the way we measure the pants. In lieu of focussing on the extremes (tallest and shortest), we would measure all of the plants in each pot of each trial and calculate the average height. We would then use the average height of each plant type to determine the lowest observable adverse effect level.

Literature Cited:

Wagner, Travis, and Robert M. Sanford. "Experimental Design: Environmental Contamination." Environmental Science: Active Learning Laboratories and Applied Problem Sets. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. N. pag. Print.