Lab report

1. Partition Behavior of Toxicants
By Sarah Dantin
February 4, 2014
Toxicology 4013

2. Introduction
The goldenshinerorNotemigonuscrysoleucas if asmall fishthatisusuallybetween7.5- 12.5
cm. It containsa reflex calledthe rightingreflexthatallowsthe fishtostayupright inthe water. The
bodyof the fishiscompletelycoveredbyabiolipidmembranethatallowssubstancestobe absorbed
fromthe surroundingenvironment.This membrane playsanimportantrole inthe life of the fish
because itallowshelpful substancesintothe bodybutalsoharmful ones.
Alcoholsare organiccompoundsthatcontaina carbon chain anda hydroxyl group.These
compoundare lipophilicmeaningtheylike lipids. Asthe carbonchainincreasessodoesthe lipophilicity
of the compoundmeaningthatethanol of more lipophilicthanmethanol.Formanybiological creatures
thiscausesproblemsbecause ourmembranesare made of lipidswhichmeansthatthe alcohol is
attractedto them.Thiscausesproblemsfromthe rate of absorptiontohow much alcohol ispresentto
be takenin.If too muchalcohol isallowedtobe takeninundera certaintime periodthenitcan leadto
death.
To compare the lipophilicpropertiesof three alcoholsasdeterminedbythe time tolossof
rightingreflex inthe goldenshiner.
Materials and Method
1. Fish(goldenshiner)
2. Plasticjugs
3. Di water
4. Graduatedcylinder
5. Dipnet
6. Stopwatch
7. Alcohols
a. Methanol
b. Ethanol
c. Propanol
Each alcohol waspreparedineithera 2%, 3%, or 4% concentrationtocreate a 2L solution.The equation
C1V1=C2V2 to prepare the concentration.
Once each concentrationwaspreparedthree goldenshinerswere addedtoeachjug.Assoonas the fish
were addedthe timerwasstartedand theywere observedforsignsof toxication.
Results and Observations

3. For the 3% propanol,the fishdidnotshow signsof toxicationat initially beingintroducedtothe
solution.Assome time passedone of the fishbeganto flipatwitch.Asmore time passedthe others
beganto do the same thing.The firstfishshortlytheirafterfloatedtothe bottomof the jugand became
unresponsive totappingonthe jugand eventhe otherfish.Thisalsooccurredwiththe othertwo
shortlyafterthe first.
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
2% 3% 4%
Methanol
fish 1 fish2 fish 3
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
2% 3% 4%
Ethanol
fish 1 fish 2 fish 3

4. Conclusion
Giventhatthe timesforthe fishto show signsof toxicationdecreasedasthe concentrationsincreased,
and decreasedasthe carbon chainsincreasedforthe alcohols,itappearsthatpropanol ismore
lipophilicthatethanol andmethanol.
Discussion
Since there wasno setwasto tell wheneachfishstartedtoshow toxicationeachgrouphad to make the
call for whentheybelievedthatthe fishstartedtoshow signs.Because of thisthere isgreatroom for
error varyingbetweenthe groups.Thiscanshow whyethanol 3% wasa bigoutlierinthe chart bynot
reallyfollowingthe trend.There couldhave alsobeenerrorinthe waythat eachconcentrationwas
prepareddue toa misscalculation.
References
Banks,Gen tox labmanual
Wikipedia.org,Goldenshiner
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2% 3% 4%
Propanol
fish 1 Fish 2 Fish 3