1. Effect of Preparation on Mercury Levels in Tuna
By Will Plunkett & Chris Winter

2. Mercury Can Have Harmful Effects On Humans
Birth Defects
Speech and hearing impairments
Decreased Cognitive Functions
Tremors
Weakness
Loss of coordination
(Holistic Dental Institute, 2017)
(Conniff, 2015)
Talk about
Birth defects
Amount of people affected by mercury poisoning
Harmful side effects
Mercury poisoning

3. Mercury Can be Found in Tuna
Mercury collects in oceans largely because of pollution.
Bacteria turns mercury into methylmercury through Methylation.
Mercury bioaccumulates in apex predators such as tuna.
Humans consume tuna.
Talk about
Mercury cycling through environment
Bioaccumulation
Amount of mercury in tuna
Mercury with regards to tuna preparation
Types of tuna mercury is commonly found in
Other fish mercury can be found in
(Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2017)

4. The World Eats a Lot of Tuna
(Ferdman, 2014)
Talk about
Amount of tuna consumed each year
Why tuna has become so popular
Types of tuna and where they are caught
Preparations of tuna

5. Research Question
Which preparation of tuna has the lowest mercury level and is the safest to eat? Canned Yellowfin, or fresh Yellowfin?
We chose this experiment to inform the public on the potentially dangerous amounts of mercury in tuna and to hopefully help the public to make an educated choice on the preperation of tuna they decide t oconsume.

6. (canned and fresh Yellowfin)
Null Hypothesis
There is no statistically significant difference between the mercury levels in different preparations of tuna
(canned and fresh Yellowfin)
Mention alternative hypotheses
If both canned and fresh tuna are tested for mercury levels, then canned tuna will have lower levels of mercury because younger fish are generally used to make canned tuna and younger fish are exposed to less amounts of mercury due to having less time to bioaccumulate it.
If both canned and fresh tuna are tested for mercury levels, then fresh tuna will have lower levels of mercury because...

7. Alternative Hypotheses
Canned tuna will have lower mercury levels because the tuna is caught while younger.
Fresh tuna will have lower mercury levels because the canning process may add trace amounts of metals to the fish.

8. Data measuring (Quantitative)
Independent Variable - Preparations of Tuna (Canned or Fresh)
Dependent Variable - Mercury Level in Each Preparation of Tuna
State IV(Preparation of tuna) and DV(Amount of mercury)
State data type (quantitative) because the mercury was measured in parts per million.
State statistical tests used: Mean, Median, Mode, Range, Standard deviation, Variance, P-value
State which of these were used to make graphs and charts and why (most likely mean)

9. Materials Used Insert pictures of materials (may take up many slides)
gram pieces fresh albacore tuna (each from a different fish)
gram pieces canned albacore tuna (each from a different can)
Six liters distilled water
30 Mercury testing strips
1 Blender
1 Cutting board
1 Knife
Wax Paper
Measuring Cup(s)
30 Sterile cups

10. Procedure Will Blending Tuna
1. Measure fifteen 2.5 gram pieces of each preparation of tuna.
2. Measure out 30 cups of distilled water and blend one sample of tuna with 1 cup of distilled water.
3. Test each solution for the amount of mercury using mercury testing strips.
Brief bullets of procedure on slide talk more in depth on procedure using flash cards
Also probably pictures
1. Cut out and measure fifteen .25 ounce pieces of each preparation of tuna. Lay each piece on a sheet of wax paper
2. Measure out 30 cups of distilled water with the measuring cups. Blend one sample of tuna with 1 cup of distilled water. Clean the Blender after each use to prevent cross contamination.
3. Test each tuna solution for the amount of mercury by submerging a mercury testing strip in each solution and following the instructions given.
4. Record and used the data in a table to find a mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, variance, and p-value.
5. Using this collected data, make a graph and chart that will compares the mean mercury levels of the two preparations of albacore tuna.

11. Procedure Continued Blended Tuna
4. Record and use the data in a table to calculate descriptive statistics.
5. Using this collected data, make a graph and chart.

12. Results-Tables Statistical tests used - Mean Median Mode Range
Variance
Standard Deviation
SEM
P-value.

13. Results-Graph
Mean was used to create a graph of averages

14. Conclusion The null hypothesis was rejected; p (0.00543) < 0.05 .
Hypothesis 1 is supported. Limited sampling supports that canned tuna is safer to eat:
Canned tuna: average of ppm mercury.
Fresh tuna: average of ppm mercury
The data could possibly be incorrect due to errors.
Canned tuna testing strips after testing
Fresh tuna testing strips after testing
State that if there is a difference between fresh and canned tuna from what our experiment showed.
State that the data gained from the experiment was possibly inconclusive inconclusive and why.
State that there was little difference in the results of the two groups and an explanation as to why. (Show picture of strips)
State that we failed to reject the null hypothesis (give p-value)
Tate that our hypothesis was unsupported by the data and give numbers from graphs to prove.
Discuss possibility of tuna samples coming in contact with human flesh along with the fact that the two groups were tested on different days.
The low P-value (.0054) was less than .05 and thus shows a statistical significance between the two groups.

15. Data Discussion
The mean calculation of canned tuna was less than that of fresh tuna; SEM of shows that this data is reflective of the mercury content of all canned tuna.
P-Value ( ) indicates that there was a statistically significant difference between each preparation

16. Possible Errors
Amounts of tuna may have been too little to show a notable difference in mercury levels.
Tuna could have been contaminated by human touch.
Tuna preparations were tested at different times.
Blender was not cleaned fully between all trials.
Sample size was too small.

17. Further questions
Testing with higher concentration of tuna in mixture.
Comparing yellowfin tuna to other types of tuna.
Comparing mercury levels in tuna to other apex predatory sea life.
Testing for other potentially harmful substances found in tuna.
Short bullets (That we will go more into detail on with flash cards) asking possible further questions such as tuna levels in other fish in comparison to tuna or the amount of tuna needed to contain a certain amount of mercury etc.

18. Works Cited Atuna.com. (2017). Tuna Species Guide. Retrieved from
Conniff, R. (2016) . Tuna’s Declining Mercury Contamination Linked to U.S. Shift Away from Coal. Scientific American, Retrieved from
Environment and Climate Change Canada., (2017) Biogeochemistry. Retrieved from
Ferdman, R, A., (8,18,14). How America Fell Out of Love With Canned Tuna. Retrieved from
Holistic Dental Institute., (2017). Mercury Poisoning-What Are The Symptoms. Retrieved from
Manceau, A., Lemouchi, C., Enescu, M., Gaillot, A., Lanson, M., Magnin, V., Glatzel, P., Poulin, B. A., Ryan, J. N., Aiken, G. R., Luneau, I. G., Nagy, K. L. (2015). Formation of Mercury Sulfide from Hg(II)–Thiolate Complexes in Natural Organic Matter. Environmental Science and Technology, 49, doi: /acs.est.5b02522
United Nations Environment Programme. (2013). Global Mercury Assessment 2013: Sources, Emissions, Releases and Environmental Transport. Retrieved from tabid/3593/Default.aspx