2023 - Full Presentation Schedule
The Effect of Micro-Plastics
Abstract
Within the last century, plastic usage has exploded from 1 million tons a year to upwards of 300 million tons a year. Now, plastic is virtually everywhere from building materials to water bottles we drink out of. A combination of the long half-life of plastic and varied amount of recycling has led to an excess of plastic waste building up in landfills, the ocean, and as litter.
One of the most common plastics, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has been known to break down into microplastics in the presence of heat. The microplastic chemicals can then leach into the surrounding systems. Some organisms are particularly susceptible to changes in the chemical composition of the nutrients they consume, such as the Pleurotus ostreatus, the pearl oyster mushroom.
This experiment aimed to test the impact of plastic breakdown on the growth of the pearl oyster mushroom. Two popular plastic water bottle brands were compared to a glass jar control group. Deionized water was placed in the different water bottles and a glass jar and then microwaved to simulate the heat under which plastic would begin to break down into microplastics and leach into the water source. Individual agars were made using water from each of the water bottles and the glass jar. The pearl oyster mushroom was plated equally on the different agars.
Growth was recorded each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until new growth stopped occurring. Each recording resulted in an increased amount of change between the pearl oyster mushroom plated on the agar created from plastic water bottles and the pearl oyster mushroom plated on the agar created from the glass jar.
The Effect of Micro-Plastics
CASB 103 - Physical, Computer, and Chemical Science
Within the last century, plastic usage has exploded from 1 million tons a year to upwards of 300 million tons a year. Now, plastic is virtually everywhere from building materials to water bottles we drink out of. A combination of the long half-life of plastic and varied amount of recycling has led to an excess of plastic waste building up in landfills, the ocean, and as litter.
One of the most common plastics, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has been known to break down into microplastics in the presence of heat. The microplastic chemicals can then leach into the surrounding systems. Some organisms are particularly susceptible to changes in the chemical composition of the nutrients they consume, such as the Pleurotus ostreatus, the pearl oyster mushroom.
This experiment aimed to test the impact of plastic breakdown on the growth of the pearl oyster mushroom. Two popular plastic water bottle brands were compared to a glass jar control group. Deionized water was placed in the different water bottles and a glass jar and then microwaved to simulate the heat under which plastic would begin to break down into microplastics and leach into the water source. Individual agars were made using water from each of the water bottles and the glass jar. The pearl oyster mushroom was plated equally on the different agars.
Growth was recorded each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until new growth stopped occurring. Each recording resulted in an increased amount of change between the pearl oyster mushroom plated on the agar created from plastic water bottles and the pearl oyster mushroom plated on the agar created from the glass jar.