How Water Pollution Affect the Productivity of Elodea Canadensis - Essay Example

Water Pollution Abstract Pollution is a human created issue which has affected the environment negatively. Water pollution is more significant as water is a vital component for human life survival. İt is a need of the human body and a requirement in agricultural processes. However, throughout the history, water has never had sole use in cleaning purposes. Today, laudry detergents is used inside washing machines with water.İf observed closely, these artificial detergents cause more harm than good. The objective of this study is to establsih how water pollution, due to the addition of laundry detergents to water bodies by humans, affect the productivity of Elodea canadensis. Sixty test tubes were used. Ten of them constituted the control group and the rest of them divided into groups of ten. Each group had five dark and five light tubes. It was deduced from the raw data table that respiration increased with reduced concentration of detergents in the water. Respiration was high in the control group compared to any of the experimental samples. The Net primary production (NPP) being the total amount of biomass fixed by Elodea plant per unit of time, was high when the concentration of detergents was low. It was recommended that laundry detergents manufacturing companies, need to review and revisit the chemical components forming the detergents. There should be a paradigm shift to a chemical substance considered as a cleaning substance consisting of organic chemicals. İntroduction Pollution is a human created issue which has been affecting the environment negatively. Especially, water pollution has become more significant as water is a vital factor for human life both as a need of the human body and as a requirement in agricultural processes which serve humans. As the human population is increasing, the demand for water is increasing as well. Water is the main cleaning agent we use in our daily lives. However, throughout the history, we have never used solely water for cleaning purposes.For instance, before detergents and washing mashines, people used to clean their clothes around a river by beating them on the rocks around the river. The leaves of some plants produced lather which acted as the first detergents used by humans. Today, we use laudry detergents inside our washing machines, with water. However, if observed closely, these artificial detergents cause more harm than good. I believe that especially human impact which enhances the water pollution is a very essential topic to investigate. There are very simple and easy steps to hinder the damage we do to the water resources around us. Also, the damage is not only done to the water , but also to us, since we use the polluted water in our daily lives. Investigating the human impact on water pollution is therefore very significant for me because I believe that if we know how to act, we can stop our negative impact on the water resources. To explore this human impact, I decided to work on something we use in our daily lives. Therefore, I focused on a chemical pollutant we use in our daily lives, which are laundry detergents. As we add this with the wastewater into the water resources, we enhance the chemical water pollution. Laundry detergents are one of the most common materials which contaminate our waters. The laundry detergents aim to decrease the the surface tension of water, so that it will easily spread around the fabric being washed. Detergents which have this function are called “surfactants”. Another reason that we use laundry detergents is because that it helps keep the dirt away from the washed clothes after being removed. The laundry detergents generally consist of eight different chemicals, which together aim to satisfy our needs. These are: 1. Alkyl benzene sulfonates: It decreases the surface tension of water. 2. Phosphates: It keeps the filth away from the fabric after removal. It also decreases the hardness of water. 3. Bleach (sodium hypochlorite): It makes the cleaning process more effective. 4. Ethylene-diamino-tetra-acetate: It is used to decrease the hardness of water. 5. Diethanolamines: It is used to make the laundry detergents less irritating. 6. Artificial Fragrances: It gives scent to the detergents. 7. Artificial Brighteners: It makes the clothes look brighter. 8. Quaternium 15: It acts as an disinfectant. Basically, laundry detergents can be considered as a cleaning substance consisting of artificial chemicals. However, we have to use it in order to keep our clothes clean. We could have still used soap to satisfy this need. Also, since soap is a biodegradable substance, the wastewater from washing our clothes with soap does not contaminate our water resources as well. However, the use of soap brought the problem of precipitation. As the calcium and magnesium ions, which give hardness to water, inside water reacted with the fatty acids in soap, it has created insoluble salts, which precipitated on the clothes. Also, the dirt removed from the clothes also consists of calcium and magnesium ions, so even though the water is soft, the precipitation of the insoluble salts is inevitable. Detergents differ from soaps in the way that they are entirely produced in a factory rather than being produced from natural products. This is also the reason why detergents are much more harmful to the waters than soap. Simply, we use detergents to make our lives easier. However, as we think with a narrow mindset, we do not consider the future implications of our actions. There are many ways in how waters are damaged due to various chemicals inside laundry detergents. The chemicals added to the waters decrease the amount of oxygen available to organisms living inside the waters, which causes their death. There are two main outcomes which affect the amount of oxygen inside water resources: 1. Eutrophication is one of the processes which lead to the depletion of oxygen inside water bodies. In this process, the high concentration of phosphate based detergents leads to an increase in algae and various other plant populations. The algae release toxins in the water, as well as using up the oxyen inside the water while decomposing. This leads to a decrease in the amount of available oxygen for other marine organisms. This results in the death of some marine organisms due to a lack of oxygen inside water. 2. Another result of addition of detergents into water is the raise in the pH of water. As some alkaline cleaning chemicals like ammonia and various detergents are added to the water, the pH of the water increases. This creates a dangerous environment for the microorganisms living in the area. As these are the organisms which clean the water and release oxygen to the water, their death results in a decrease in the amount of oxygen inside the water bodies. Some other damages of the addition of detergent chemicals to the marine habitat are that the chemicals can destroy the protective mucus layer covering the fish and therefore damage their gills (when the amount of chemicals reach around 15 parts per million). The chemicals can also kill the fish eggs when they reach around 5 parts per million. When the chemical pollution reaches around 2 parts per million, due to the surfactants inside detergents, the surface tension of water decreases and therefore various other chemicals (such as pesticides) easily enter the water and get absorbed by the fish. The main materials inside detergents contributing to this environmental damage can be considered as surfactants and sodium silicate solutions. To model and test the effects of the water pollution due to laundry detergents, I will be holding an experiment, with my research question being “How does the water pollution due to the addition of laundry detergents to water bodies by humans affect the productivity of Elodea canadensis?”. As derived from this question, I will mainly be focusing on the effects on aquatic plants and the effects on the water body. I will also be relating my results to other organisms living inside water bodies and how they possibly might get affected. Methods I will have sixty test tubes, ten of them being the control group. The rest of them will be divided into groups of ten. Each group will have five dark and five light tubes. Each group of ten will be polluted with a different amount of detergent, ranging around the value 15 ppm (0.00045 g, as most damage is caused when the amount of chemicals inside the water body reaches 15 ppm, the amount of the detergent is calculated accordingly). I will put water and Elodea inside each tube, and calculate the productivity of Elodea in one week. As I am focusing on Elodea canadensis in my experiment, I will now look at how Elodea and how it behaves in waters. Elodea is a dioecious plant and a member of natural aquatic ecosystems. A very invasive species, it can become dominant in especially waters rich of bicarbonate, reduced iron and phosphorus. In the experiment, I will be creating an environment including some of these elements, so it is expected that some of the Elodea will show high growth. Elodea also plays an important role in the internatl fertilization of waters. During its growth, it takes up nutrients from the water and gives out nutrients during decomposition. Lastly, Elodea is a decomposes very fast in waters. I will be using a phosphate based laundry detergent in the experiment. I will be using the detergent “SA8™ Amway Premium ConcentratedPowderLaundry Detergent”, which consists of these chemicals: sodium carbonate, nonionic surfactants, bleach, sitric acid, anionic surfactants, phosphonate, optical brighteners and enzymes. The method for my experiment will be the steps listed below: 1. Number each test tube. Number the control group as C1, C2, C3.. 2. Measure and put 300 cm3 of water in a beaker. 3. Add 0.007g of detergent into the beaker. Mix until dissolved. 4. Measure and put 30 cm3from this mixture by using a measuring cylinder into the first ten numbered test tubes. 5. Place a stopper on all ten tubes and shake them. 6. Measure the amount of oxygen inside each test tube with the dissolved oxygen probe and TI calculator. Record the valaues for each test tube. 7. Dry ten pieces of Elodea canadensis with a paper towel. 8. Measure and record the mass of each piece of Elodea. While recording, make sure that each measurement for Elodea is recorded correctly for the tube it is placed in. 9. Place the Elodea in the first five numbered tubes, place the stopper and place them near a window where they can get sunlight (Tubes 1 to 5). 10. Place the Elodea in the remaining five tubes (Tubes 6 to 10). 11. Tightly cover each of the remaining five tubes with aluminum foil, so that they won’t receive any sunlight. Place them at a darker area. 12. Repeat these steps for 0.003g, 0.004g, 0.005g and 0.006g of detergent (Using the tubes numbered from 11 to 50). 13. Repeat these steps without adding any detergent for the control group (Using the tubes numbered from C1 to C10). Table 1: Raw Data   Oxygen - 1st Measurement / mg/L Oxygen - 2nd Measurement / mg/L Mass of Elodea - 1st Measurement / g Mass of Elodea - 2nd Measurement / g Amount of Detergent (per 500 cm3) Dark/Light 1 4.3 3.6 0.55 0.59 0.007 g Light 2 4.6 5.4 1.15 0.92 0.007 g Light 3 5.3 4.4 0.37 0.40 0.007 g Light 4 3.7 5.0 0.37 0.58 0.007 g Light 5 3.8 4.1 0.45 0.45 0.007 g Light 6 3.1 4.3 0.20 0.20 0.007 g Dark 7 3.3 1.2 0.37 0.39 0.007 g Dark 8 3.5 2.9 0.30 0.37 0.007 g Dark 9 4.0 1.6 0.30 0.30 0.007 g Dark 10 3.0 1.2 0.22 0.25 0.007 g Dark             11 3.7 7.4 0.53 0.57 0.003 g Light 12 4.0 6.4 0.31 0.32 0.003 g Light 13 3.6 3.2 0.41 0.45 0.003 g Light 14 3.8 5.4 0.32 0.34 0.003 g Light 15 4.2 3.8 0.34 0.38 0.003 g Light 16 3.6 1.1 0.29 0.35 0.003 g Dark 17 3.6 2.7 0.34 0.32 0.003 g Dark 18 3.4 1.1 0.38 0.42 0.003 g Dark 19 3.5 2.1 0.40 0.42 0.003 g Dark 20 3.6 3.9 0.25 0.26 0.003 g Dark               21 3.6 5.8 0.30 0.32 0.006 g Light 22 4.4 4.5 0.36 0.46 0.006 g Light 23 3.9 5.9 0.43 0.40 0.006 g Light 24 4.2 4.5 0.24 0.27 0.006 g Light 25 3.6 4.4 0.54 0.56 0.006 g Light 26 3.5 2.1 0.36 0.41 0.006 g Dark 27 3.5 1.5 0.43 0.41 0.006 g Dark 28 3.8 1.8 0.36 0.40 0.006 g Dark 29 3.9 1.1 0.67 0.66 0.006 g Dark 30 3.9 0.9 0.30 N/A - dead, only leaves 0.006 g Dark               31 3.3 4.5 0.38 0.39 0.005 g Light 32 3.5 3.6 0.29 0.33 0.005 g Light 33 3.6 6.2 0.31 0.33 0.005 g Light 34 3.4 6.2 0.46 0.51 0.005 g Light 35 3.3 7.0 0.29 0.33 0.005 g Light 36 3.5 1.8 0.36 0.37 0.005 g Dark 37 3.4 1.6 0.25 0.29 0.005 g Dark 38 3.5 2.2 0.27 0.31 0.005 g Dark 39 3.5 3.1 0.18 0.19 0.005 g Dark 40 3.4 2.1 0.27 0.25 0.005 g Dark               41 3.5 N/A - broken tube 0.34 0.44 0.004 g Light 42 4.0 2.6 0.48 0.53 0.004 g Light 43 3.7 2.5 0.40 0.48 0.004 g Light 44 4.6 1.0 0.47 0.61 0.004 g Light 45 4.6 1.0 0.31 0.42 0.004 g Light 46 3.5 1.0 0.24 0.23 0.004 g Dark 47 3.5 2.6 0.38 0.45 0.004 g Dark 48 4.0 1.0 0.65 0.68 0.004 g Dark 49 3.6 1.1 0.50 0.45 0.004 g Dark 50 3.9 1.2 0.44 0.45 0.004 g Dark               C1 4.0 1.0 0.63 0.92 Control Light C2 5.2 0.9 0.28 0.41 Control Light C3 5.3 1.1 0.49 0.38 Control Light C4 4.8 1.2 0.38 0.48 Control Light C5 5.4 1.5 0.47 0.63 Control Light C6 4.2 0.9 0.58 0.57 Control Dark C7 4.5 1.5 0.31 0.32 Control Dark C8 4.9 1.0 0.29 0.35 Control Dark C9 5.1 1.2 0.57 0.58 Control Dark C10 5.1 1.9 0.30 0.32 Control Dark Table 2: Processed Data   Oxygen - 1st Measurement / g/L Oxygen - 2nd Measurement / g/L Mass of Elodea - 1st Measurement / g Mass of Elodea - 2nd Measurement / g 1 0.0043 0.0036 0.55 0.59 2 0.0046 0.0054 1.15 0.92 3 0.0053 0.0044 0.37 0.40 4 0.0037 0.0050 0.37 0.58 5 0.0038 0.0041 0.45 0.45 6 0.0031 0.0043 0.20 0.20 7 0.0033 0.0012 0.37 0.39 8 0.0035 0.0029 0.30 0.37 9 0.0040 0.0016 0.30 0.30 10 0.0030 0.0012 0.22 0.25         11 0.0037 0.0074 0.53 0.57 12 0.0040 0.0064 0.31 0.32 13 0.0036 0.0032 0.41 0.45 14 0.0038 0.0054 0.32 0.34 15 0.0042 0.0038 0.34 0.38 16 0.0036 0.0011 0.29 0.35 17 0.0036 0.0027 0.34 0.32 18 0.0034 0.0011 0.38 0.42 19 0.0035 0.0021 0.40 0.42 20 0.0036 0.0039 0.25 0.26           21 0.0036 0.0058 0.30 0.32 22 0.0044 0.0045 0.36 0.46 23 0.0039 0.0059 0.43 0.40 24 0.0042 0.0045 0.24 0.27 25 0.0036 0.0044 0.54 0.56 26 0.0035 0.0021 0.36 0.41 27 0.0035 0.0015 0.43 0.41 28 0.0038 0.0018 0.36 0.40 29 0.0039 0.0011 0.67 0.66 30 0.0039 0.0009 0.30 N/A - dead, only leaves           31 0.0033 0.0045 0.38 0.39 32 0.0035 0.0036 0.29 0.33 33 0.0036 0.0062 0.31 0.33 34 0.0034 0.0062 0.46 0.51 35 0.0033 0.0070 0.29 0.33 36 0.0035 0.0018 0.36 0.37 37 0.0034 0.0016 0.25 0.29 38 0.0035 0.0022 0.27 0.31 39 0.0035 0.0031 0.18 0.19 40 0.0034 0.0021 0.27 0.25           41 0.0035 N/A 0.34 0.44 42 0.0040 0.0026 0.48 0.53 43 0.0037 0.0025 0.40 0.48 44 0.0046 0.0010 0.47 0.61 45 0.0046 0.0010 0.31 0.42 46 0.0035 0.0010 0.24 0.23 47 0.0035 0.0026 0.38 0.45 48 0.0040 0.0010 0.65 0.68 49 0.0036 0.0011 0.50 0.45 50 0.0039 0.0012 0.44 0.45           C1 0.0040 0.0010 0.63 0.92 C2 0.0052 0.0009 0.28 0.41 C3 0.0053 0.0011 0.49 0.38 C4 0.0048 0.0012 0.38 0.48 C5 0.0054 0.0015 0.47 0.63 C6 0.0042 0.0009 0.58 0.57 C7 0.0045 0.0015 0.31 0.32 C8 0.0049 0.0010 0.29 0.35 C9 0.0051 0.0012 0.57 0.58 C10 0.0051 0.0019 0.30 0.32 Table 3: Results and Calculatıons Pair Result - Respiration / g/L GPP / g/L/wk NPP / g/L/wk 1 & 10 0.0018 0.0418 0.0400 2 & 9 0.0024 -0.2276 -0.2300 3 & 7 0.0021 0.0321 0.0300 4 & 8 0.0024 0.2124 0.2100 5 & 6 -0.0012 -0.0012 0.0000  0.0015 0.0115 0.0100 11 & 16 2.5000 2.5400 0.0400 12 & 20 -0.3000 -0.2900 0.0100 13 & 19 1.4000 1.4400 0.0400 14 & 17 0.9000 0.9200 0.0200 15 & 18 2.3000 2.3400 0.0400  1.3600 1.3900 0.0300 21 & 30 3.0000 3.0200 0.0200 22 & 28 2.0000 2.1000 0.1000 23 & 27 2.0000 1.9700 -0.0300 24 & 26 1.4000 1.4300 0.0300 25 & 29 2.8000 2.8200 0.0200  2.2400 2.2680 0.0280 31 & 36 1.7000 1.7100 0.0100 32 & 37 1.8000 1.8400 0.0400 33 & 38 1.3000 1.3200 0.0200 34 & 39 0.4000 0.4500 0.0500 35 & 40 1.3000 1.3400 0.0400  1.3000 1.3320 0.0320 41 & 47 0.9000 1.0000 0.1000 42 & 48 3.0000 3.0500 0.0500 43 & 50 2.7000 2.7800 0.0800 44 & 49 2.5000 2.6400 0.1400 45 & 46 2.5000 2.6100 0.1100  2.3200 2.4160 0.0960 C1 & C6 3.3000 3.5900 0.2900 C2 & C8 3.9000 4.0300 0.1300 C3 & C9 3.9000 3.7900 -0.1100 C4 & C10 3.2000 3.3000 0.1000 C5 & C7 3.0000 3.1600 0.1600    3.4600 3.5740 0.1140 Figure 1: Average Net Primary Production (NPP) Figure 2: Average Perspiration Rate Discussion The results from the table indicate that the test tubes placed on light, containing 0.007g in 500cm3 of detergent “SA8™ Amway Premium Concentrated Powder Laundry detergent had significant increase in the mass of Elodea. On the contrary, the amount of oxygen in the second measurement had increased compared to the first measurement. The test tubes containing similar concentration of detergent though placed in the dark, showed significant reduction in oxygen concentrations. Related measurements taken after seven days showed no change in the growth of Elodea. The sample containing 0.006g of 500cm3 detergent, and placed in the light had increased oxygen concentrations, but relative small increase in the mass of Elodea. For the test tubes in the dark, the oxygen concentrations significantly reduced, while change in Elodea growth showed a dismal reduction. Besides, increased perspiration since the reading caused reduced oxygen uptake in the second reading causing death of Elodea plant. For the test tubes containing 0.005g of 500cm3 detergent, the test tubes placed in the light had reduced oxygen concentrations with, small increase in the mass of Elodea. For the test tubes in the dark, the oxygen concentrations fairly reduced while change in Elodea growth showed a slight increase. For the concentration in 0.004g of 500cm3 detergent, the test tubes placed in the light had reduced oxygen concentrations with relatively, fair increase in the mass of Elodea. For the test tubes in the dark, the oxygen concentrations extremely reduced while change in Elodea growth showed no change. In the experiment containing 0.003g of 500cm3 detergent, the test tubes placed in the light had small reduction in oxygen concentrations with a relative increase in the mass of Elodea. For the test tubes in the dark, the oxygen concentrations relatively reduced but the change in Elodea growth showed a small increase. For the control group, the oxygen concentrations had greatly reduced with a corresponding huge increase in Elodea growth. For the test tubes placed in the dark, oxygen concentrations significantly reduced with minimal change in the mass of Elodea. It can be deduced from the raw data table that respiration increased with reduced concentration of detergents in the water. Respiration was high in the control group compared to any of the experimental samples. The Net primary production (NPP) being the total amount of biomass fixed by Elodea plant per unit of time, was high when the concentration of detergents was low. The quantity of NPP reduced at 0.003g of detergent but increased in the following case of 0.004g. There was a gradual reduction in NPP as the amount of detergents increased from 0.004g to 0.007g in the experiment. The amount of oxygen released when there were no detergents was high. However, with increased addition of detergent concentrations, the amount of oxygen released decreased significantly. The reduction in oxygen output was a result of Eutrophication which lead to the depletion of oxygen inside the test tubes containing Elodea. In this process, the high concentration of phosphate and carbonate based detergents lead to an increase in minute algae and various other plant populations. The algae released toxins in the water, as well as using up the oxyen inside the water while decomposing. This lead to a decrease in the amount of available oxygen in the experiment. Conclusion The damage caused by addition of detergent chemicals to marine habitats is enormous (Hammad, & Dirar, 1982). The main components inside detergents contributing to environmental damage are considered as surfactants and sodium silicate solutions. From this experiment, it can be concluded that water pollution due to the addition of laundry detergents to water bodies by humans, affect the productivity of Elodea canadensis. İn reality, the detergents have chemicals destroy the protective mucus layer covering the fish and therefore, damage their gills (when the amount of chemicals reach around 15 parts per million). The chemicals can also kill the fish eggs when they reach around 5 parts per million (Gledhill, 1974). When the chemical pollution reaches around 2 parts per million, due to the surfactants inside detergents, the surface tension of water decreases and therefore various other chemicals (such as pesticides) easily enter the water and get absorbed by the fish (Lightowlers, 2004). İn addition, the detergents destroy acquatic plants that play an important role in the internatl fertilization of waters. During their growth, these plants take up nutrients from the water and gives out nutrients during decomposition. Besides, detergents in water raises the pH, since some alkaline cleaning chemicals like ammonia and other detergents added to the water, increases its pH value. This creates a dangerous environment for the microorganisms which help clean and release oxygen to the water (Hammad & Dirar, 1982). Their death results in a decrease in the amount of oxygen inside the water bodies. When the Net primary production rate reduces in all the aquatic plants, the entire ecosystem produces less net valuable chemical energy (Eniola, & Olayemi, 1999). This will lower the overall difference between the rate plants in an ecosystem generate valuable chemical energy (GPP). The rate at which some of the energy generated is lost to respiration. In effect, some net primary production will fail to advance the growth and reproduction of many primary and secondary producers. Recommendations Laundry detergents manufacture should be reviewed and the chemical components revisited. Perhaps shift to a chemical substance considered as a cleaning substance consisting of organic chemicals (Gleeson & Gray 1997). This will keep the clothes clean while resoring the value of water to acquatic life and the entire ecosystem. soap can still be used to satisfy this cleaning need. Also, since soap is a biodegradable substance, the wastewater from washing our clothes with soap does not contaminate our water resources as well. Detergents differ from soaps in the way that they are entirely produced in a factory rather than being produced from natural products (McAvoy, Eckhoff & Rapaport, 1997). This is also the reason why detergents are much more harmful to the waters than soap. The main materials inside detergents contributing to this environmental damage can be considered as sodium silicate and surfactants solutions. These should not be let into large water bodies, but disposed on dry ground. İt should not be directed to flow into rivers, streams and lakes. Reference List Eniola, KIT & Olayemi, AB 1999, Impact of effluents from detergent producing plant on some water body in Ibadan, Nigeria. Int. Jour of Env. Health Research, 9: 335 – 340. Gleeson, C & Gray, N 1997, The coliform index and waterborn disease: Problems of microbial drinking water assessment. E and FN Spon, London. Gledhill, W E 1974, Linear Alkyl benzene Suifonates: Biodegradation and Aquatic interactions Adv. Appl. Microbial.17;265-293. Hammad, Z H & Dirar, H A 1982, Microbiological examination of sebeel water. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 43: 1238 – 1243. Lightowlers, P 2004, Still dirty; review of action against toxic product in Europe. A report for WWF-UK. McAvoy D C, Eckhoff W S & Rapaport, RA 1997, The fate of Lineart alkylbenzene sulfonates in the environment. The clear Review. 3 (1); 4-7. Read More