Effects of Forest Fires On Rat Lungs vs On Yeast

Grade:

12

Teacher:

Viktoriya Yurkiv

This project investigated the effects of wildfire smoke on lung tissue and enclosed air quality, with a focus on carbon dioxide (CO₂). Smoke was generated using mesquite wood and introduced into sealed containers to simulate smoke exposure in an enclosed environment. This simulates the change in air quality as the smoke would disperse into the air, in the real environment forest fires can effect the air quality for many hours or even indefinitely. Rat lung tissue samples were exposed to smoke and examined under a microscope to observe potential structural changes. Due to limitations associated with using nonliving tissue, yeast was included as an alternative living model. Yeast samples were exposed to smoke under identical conditions, with control samples used to account for natural CO₂ production. Microscopic analysis showed no observable structural changes in either the lung tissue or yeast cells following smoke exposure. However, CO₂ measurements revealed that smoke from burning mesquite wood significantly increased CO₂ levels within the enclosed containers. These findings demonstrate how wildfire smoke can rapidly degrade air quality, even when immediate biological damage is not visibly apparent. Overall, the results show how difficult lung research is without living samples with lungs, the research also demonstrates how rapidly CO₂ increases when there is smoke from a fire.

Project presentation

Research paper