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Lethal Concentration Lab Report

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Introduction The exponential growth of human population, caused an unprecedented problem for the global ecosystem. (Carolina EcoKits, 2012) The increase in pollution brought upon great fear and concern about what types of contaminants were in the foods and water supply for citizens. In 1977, the Clean Water Act was passed, the act ensured that any release of pollutants at toxic levels into any water source was forbidden. (Carolina EcoKits, 2012) It allowed for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set guidelines and standards for how pollutants were emptied in navigable waters. (Carolina EcoKits, 2012) The pollutants that enter the freshwater habitats come from specific and identifiable sources known as point sources or they come …show more content…

The test define how much concentration a pollutant has. The concentration is expressed as a percent volume lethal to 50% of the tested organisms that are exposed to the particular pollutant during a fixed time period. (Carolina EcoKits, 2012) The value is known as the Lethal Concentration 50 or LC50. LC50 Aquatic Toxicity test can be done in two ways: flow through or static. The flow through test, is where many concentrations of the pollutant are pumped through chambers for a fixed period of time. For the static test, the aquatic organisms are exposed to a small concentration for the duration of the test. The values of these test help the EPA compare the toxicity and chemicals of the water and set regulations and guidelines. (Carolina EcoKits, …show more content…

Furthermore each container had the exact same number of Daphnia magna: five Daphnia per container. 70 ml of the ammonium sulfate solution was poured into the properly labeled containers, and the five daphnia were carefully pipetted into the solution. The five containers were all out into a designated location for 24 hours. After the 24 hours, the number of remaining (alive) Daphnia were determined and charted. Data was collected for a personal group percentage and a classroom

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