Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Report - Essay Example Therefore, Daphnia and humans experience similar effects when exposed to specific toxic or chemical components (Grant, 2000). Daphnia magna is generally used by scientists because the species is fairly easy to care for and provides accurate investigation results for water quality and toxicity. Thus the assessment of the effect of different chemicals on Daphnia magna will give indications on the impacts of these chemicals on human body. The objective of this report is to determine and distinguish the effect of toxicity on the heartbeat by testing the effect on Daphnia magna. Hypothesis The interaction of foreign chemical components with the physiology of Daphnia magna affects its heart beats Non hypothesis The interaction of foreign chemical components with the physiology of Daphnia magna does not affect its heart beats Method:- As described in the practical handbook as well as time course events. Results Heartbeats of Daphnia magna after adding 3 chemicals and their combinations were recorded at different time intervals. The results have been tabulated in the table below Heartbeats min-1 Control A B C A+B B+C A+C Time 2 minutes 94 125 75 93 248 211 131 4 minutes 96 135 68 98 369 22 128 6 minutes 95 134 75 95 354 213 134 8 minutes 90 129 68 94 328 198 129 10 minutes 86 136 68 87 311 168 138 12 minutes 92 126 91 85 321 179 121 14 minutes 94 129 73 92 341 189 128 16 minutes 96 130 72 94 - 196 124 18 minutes 95 142 74 95 - 201 131 20 minutes 98 136 75 97 - 204 134 The following graph compares the changes in heart rates on addition of 3 chemicals and its combinations. Graph 1: Changes In Heart Rates On Addition of 3 Chemicals And Its Combinations. Additivity Graph 2: Comparison of the effect of A, B and the combination of A & B Graph 3: Comparison of the effect of C, B and the combination of C & B The graphs above compare the effect of chemicals in relation with the effect of their combination. Antagonism Graph 3: Comparison of the effect of C, B and the combination of C & B Discussion:- Graph 1: Heart rate count per 15 seconds Graph 1 indicates the effect on the heartbeat rate of Daphnia when exposed to chemical A, B and C and different combinations of A B and C. The graph results show that all the chemicals and their combinations. In comparison with the control, the combination of A and B had relatively higher impact on the heart rates. Chemical B individually reduced the heart rates of Daphnia. The combination of A and B and also the combination of B and C exhibited additivity. In both the combinations, the interaction of these chemicals was equivalent to the added impact of both the chemicals. In the case of the combination of A and C, A interacted with C to reduce the effect of C. This is a case of antagonism. This combination is of clinical relevance as one chemical reduces the impact of the other. Conclusion From the observations, it is evident that all the chemicals and its combinations cause interactions with heart functioning and aff ects heart rates at varied levels. All the combinations including the individual addition of chemical affected the heart rate of Daphnia. However, some of the effects were very less compared to others. Antagonic interaction was observed between the chemicals A and C. Additivity was observed between the chemicals A and B and also between B and C. Thus the hypothesis of the report is supported by the findings of the study.