Booth Id:
EAEV128
Category:
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Year:
2021
Finalist Names:
Haque, Ishraq (School: Academic Magnet High School)
Abstract:
Approximately 200 million people worldwide are affected by arsenic-contaminated
water for reasons such as drinking tube well groundwater. In 2019, the author
created a novel and inexpensive One Step Red Soil Filtration (OSRSF) system for
villages in Bangladesh. The goal of this current study was to investigate the
long-term biological effects of utilizing the OSRSF with a slight modification of the
container to create a more efficient system. After one-year usage, hair and nail
arsenic levels of villagers significantly decreased. the percentage of immune cell
survival was also improved by using the OSRSF. This result was verified in the
laboratory by using the cell viability assay to check how arsenic trioxide and
sodium arsenite affect survival for two B-cell lines. Then, an immunofluorescence
staining assay revealed how mitochondrial stress was attenuated due to a
decrease in the cell death marker Bax caused by the filtration system. Western
blot analysis showed caspase-3 protein expression decreased, causing a
reduction in immune cell death. Overall, this study presents how an economical
filtration system can improve human health and provide clean water for
low-income populations.