Amanda Behmer - Purpose & Hypothesis

To what extent does the presence of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastic powder leachate-- irradiated by a lab-grade UV light for varying periods of time-- affect the optical culture density of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (photosynthetic protist) when protist cultures are grown in the presence of PET leachates for several days?

It is hypothesized that the leachates from polyethylene terephthalate microplastic powder will impact the growth rate of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cultures. Polyethylene terephthalate may leach toxic chemicals such as antimony trioxide; this leachate will likely have an inhibitory effect on the growth rates of the algae (EPA 2008). It is likely that longer irradiation will contribute to greater leachate quantity. Because of this, experimental groups containing plastic leachate vary in irradiation length, respectively. Longer irradiation could contribute to geno-toxicological impacts on the algae, as the leached chemicals could interact with genes essential to the structure and function of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Prior experimentation has also informed this hypothesis; the presence of plastic was found to be a statistically significant inhibitory factor in algal growth. When the PET plastic powder is soaked for a prolonged period, we expect to see this effect replicated in the leachate media as a function of UV irradiation time.

**Hypothesis synthesized in collaboration with Cora Becker.

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