Team Number: 067
Team Number: 067
School Name: Picacho Middle School
Area of Science: Agricultural Science
Project Title: Health Effects of Harmful Herbicides
Background and Problem: Agent Orange was used as a defoliant during the Vietnam War. Then during the seventies it was banned from use in the United States due to serious health effects. Since then they have come up with a replacement chemical that is very similar to Agent Orange. Then they found that that chemical, 2,4,5-T was hazardous to our health. So then they switched to a different one called 2,4-D. We want to find out if the replacement chemicals have caused, are causing, or will cause any health effects. The chemical make-up of Agent Orange is 24 Carbon Molecules, 27 Hydrogen, 5 Chlorine, and 6 Oxygen Molecules. The chemical makeup of 2,4,5-T is 8 Carbon Molecules, 5 Hydrogen, 3 Chlorine, and 3255.4847 Oxygen Molecules. The Chemical makeup of 2,4-D is 8 Carbon Molecules, 6 Hydrogen, 2 Chlorine, and 3221.0396 Oxygen Molecules. As you can see 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D are very similar, but they say that 2,4-D does not cause any serious health effects. We want to find out if people with direct exposure to large amounts suffer similar problems as those who were in contact with 2,4,5-T.
Progress to date: We have done a huge amount of research on the subject of herbicides and their health effects. We have met with our mentor, and she has been a huge help. Her name is Tracy Sterling out of NMSU. She knows a whole lot about herbicides and how they are used today.
Hypothesis: We think that there will be some minor health effects, but not as much as Agent Orange or 2,4,5-T.
Procedure: We have not started our computer program yet. We are still looking for a mentor to help us with that part. We hope to find one right after the Christmas break. We will compile our research, get some research from our mentor, try to find health effects, and then we will do our computer program.
Team Members
Jean McCray
Project Mentor(s)