Skunk Attack!

Overview

Objectives The objective of my science project to find home remedies that will eliminate skunk smell when a pet gets sprayed by a skunk. My research determined that hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap reduce/ eliminated the skunk smell. Methods Tested various remedies which included (3) drops of skunk essence on (6) rages, the following remedies were used on each rag against the skunk essence: baking soda/hydrogen peroxide/dish soap, vinegar, lemon juice, and tomato sauce. I also used (12) human test subject to determine the intensity of smell of each rag. Results My hypothesis was correct, using 1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and a teaspoon of Dawn liquid detergent, reduce/eliminate the smell all together after 5 minutes of setting the solution on your pet or item of choice, rinse the solution and your item should be free of skunk essence. Conclusions In my research, I tested my hypothesis (hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, dish soap) against several common of the shelf home remedies such as lemon juice, tomato sauce, vinegar. The above remedies did not work well against the skunk essence because they did not contain the oxidizing agents that eliminate the thiols (skunk essence). Since hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap contains two different oxidizing agents and a surfactant (H2O2) it was able to eliminate the smell.

Awards (1)

• Honorable Mention

Competition history

• CSEF 2019 Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology · Entry J0521

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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