Photo by V. Miller

Nov. 17, 2004

Water Flea Heart Rates

Can Turmeric Reverse Effects of Perchlorate on Daphnia Heart Rate?
Rebecca Ann Chan, 13, Encinitas, Calif.
Finalist, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2004

Project background: A component of rocket fuel, perchlorate now pollutes the Colorado River, a source of drinking water for 20 million people in the West. Rebecca decided to test the effect of perchlorate on water fleas (Daphnia), known to be a good model for cardiotoxicity.

Tactics and results: Rebecca dosed her water fleas with 3 concentrations of perchlorate solution. To measure heart rate, she placed a flea on a cavity slide and watched it under a videomicroscope. Looking through the scope, she could count a flea's heartbeats. She found that a flea's heart rate increased by up to 40 percent. Feeding the fleas the antioxidant (and popular Indian spice) turmeric rapidly reduced the fleas' heart rates.

Rebecca concluded that turmeric may be a "natural, economical, and readily available antidote" to perchlorate poisoning.

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