Affects of BPA on Beta Fish BIOL-1625A-01 Blake Pruitt

Goal To see if BPA(Bisphenol-A) will have any affect on the aggressiveness of Beta fish.

What We Want to Prove Ultimately we want to be able to show that BPA interrupts the production of male hormones, concluding that BPA mimics estrogen, causing the body of the Betta fish to feminize.

BPA(Bisphenol-A) BPA is a carbon based compound that has been commercially used since 1957. It is used to make a tough and clear plastic, and is found in many different items such as: baby bottles, water bottles, CD’s, DVD’s, and sports equipment. At a high dosage BPA can be harmful do fetuses, infants, and young children. Resulting in the FDA banning the use of BPA in baby bottles, and sippy cups.

Beta(Betta splendens) Fish The Beta fish is an extremely aggressive fish. It has bright colors, and large flowing fins that fan out when it comes in contact with a threat. When in the wild the Betta fish will feed off of zooplankton, crustaceans, and the larvae of mosquitos and can grow up to 6.5 cm long.

Steps We have ten Betta fish each in their own tanks. Each containing 1L of water. The first week we had the tanks separated by pieces of paper acting as a blind so they would not be stressed out by the other fish. The blind was then removed showing each fish to their neighbor. Once they started to show aggressiveness a timer was started for ten minutes and each separate Betta was timed every time its fins flared up.

Steps cont. After every Betta was timed we gave them a days rest and then added 1mL of BPA(.045 grams/Liter) to each tank. We have given them one whole week to absorb as much BPA as possible, and starting Wednesday we will be timing them again to see if the BPA reduces the time that they show aggressiveness.