The Effect of Dihydroxyacetoneon the Heart Rate and Mortality Rate of Daphnia magna

The purpose of this study was to understand the effects that different brands of sunless tanners containing dihydroxyacetone have on the mortality and heart rate of Daphnia magna. It was hypothesized that if the sunless tanners were introduced to the environment of the Daphnia magna, then the mortality rate of the Daphnia would be greater than the control group exposed to no self tanners, moreover, due to Jergens Natural Glow Instant Sun Deep Bronze having a darker coloring indicating higher levels of dye, this sunless tanner would lead to the lowest heart rate and highest mortality rate. Each self tanner was added to a separate bowl that contained 10 Daphnia magna each day for a total of 4 days. The Daphnia magna\u27s heart rate and living population were recorded each day. L\u27Oreal Paris had the highest mortality rate with an average of 10 Daphnia alive on day 1, 2 Daphnia alive on day 2, and 0 Daphnia alive on days 3 and 4. L\u27Oreal Paris also had the greatest heart rate decrease, starting with an average of 257.1 bpm on day 1, to 9.9 bpm on day 2, and 0 bpm on days 3 and 4. p\u3c 0.00001 for the one-way ANOVA on heart rate, and p = 0.00085, and both were significant because p \u3c 0.05. In conclusion, the hypothesis was not supported because L\u27Oreal Paris had the highest mortality rate and lead to the greatest decrease in heart rate and the hypothesis stated that Jegen\u27s would have the highest mortality rate and greatest decrease in heart rate. In addition, all sunless tanners caused the population of Daphnia to decrease as well as the heart rate