Can Herbicides Have an Effect on a Planarian Nervous System?

Overview

Objectives The purpose of this experiment is to test the effect of commonly used herbicides to see whether or not they cause neurotoxicity on planarian flatworms, which have a very similar nervous system to humans. Methods The materials that I used in my experiment were: 200 Planarian flatworms, 20 petri dishes, pipettes, timer, ruler, light, weed killers (Roundup, Pyrethrin, & Spectracide),and worm food (liver). Results The results that I found were that all the worms became paralyzed almost instantly in all concentrations after the first 5 days . Roundup was the herbicide that paralyzed the worms the fastest while the other 2 herbicides, Pyrethrin & Spectracide, took a little bit more time to make all the worm's paralyzed. Although, they took more time, all the worms in all herbicides were paralyzed by the end of 5 days. The results show that on the 6th day worms began dying. Again, Roundup was the fastest herbicide to make all the worms dead. Conclusions In conclusion, my hypothesis is proven correct. Prolonged exposure to herbicides does have an effect on the Planaria. And this could have an effect on whether or not a human will have some sort of neurological disease in the future. Also the herbicide Roundup did have the most effect on the worms.

Competition history

• CSEF 2019 Toxicology · Entry J2107

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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