Effects of Marine Engine Exhaust Water on Algae

Jones, Mary E.
123 Main St., Hometown, AK 99999
Hometown High School, Hometown, AK

This project in its present form is the result of bioassay experimentation on the effects of two-cycle marine engine exhaust water on certain green algae. The initial idea was to determine the toxicity of outboard engine lubricant. Some success with lubricants eventually led to the formulation of “synthetic” exhaust water, which, in turn, led to the use of actual two-cycle engine exhaust water as the test substance.

Toxicity was determined by means of the standard bottle or “batch” bioassay technique. Scenedesmus quadricauda and Ankistrodesmus sp. decrease in the maximum standing crop. The effective concentration – 50% (EC 50) for Scenedesmus quadricauda – was found to be 3.75% exhaust water; for Ankistrodesmus sp. 3.1% exhaust water using the bottle technique.

Anomalies in growth curves raised the suspicion that evaporation was affecting the results; therefore, a flow-through system was improvised utilizing the characteristics of a device called a Biomonitor. Use of the Biomonitor lessened the influence of evaporation, and the EC 50 was found to be 1.4% exhaust water using Ankistrodesmus sp. as the test organism. Mixed populations of various algae gave an EC 50 of 1.28% exhaust water.

The contributions of this project are twofold. First, the toxicity of two-cycle marine engine exhaust was found to be considerably greater than reported in the literature (1.4% vs. 4.2%). Secondly, the benefit of a flow-through bioassay technique utilizing the Biomonitor was demonstrated.