Onion Reaction to Chlorine

Conclusion: The hypothesis is supported by the findings that 0% of the green

onions planted in bleach-contaminated soil showed any root growth over the 1-

week period, and, in contrast, 100% of the green onions planted in non-

contaminated soil grew at least 6.5 cm over the 1-week period. In addition to this

data, research has shown that a common source of groundwater contamination

is the handling and storage of bulk chemicals, such as bleach. These chemicals

leak and spill from storage during transfer. Many chemical storage tanks are kept

underground, where their leaks are kept undetected. The leaking chemicals

become present in the soil and water of residential and rural areas as well as

industrial areas. These facts show that there is a high likelihood that bleach is

entering the soil and contaminating the groundwater by leaking from storage at

the bleach company. One likely error in the results is the cession of root growth

in Control #1 after the first day. The roots grew from .5 cm to 7 cm and remained

at 7 cm for the rest of the experiment, while the roots of Control #2 and Control

#3 showed steady growth throughout the entire 1-week experiment. One likely

cause of error is the health of the green onion in Control #1 prior to the

experiment. It may have been a weaker plant and died due to lack of sunlight.

Another likely cause of error is human error. The plant may have been

mishandled and killed during its first root measurement. The results of this

experiment and other facts prove that bleach-contaminated water is a definite