Cat Fish Experiment

In this experiment we tested to see if the catfish contained lead by using a lead testing kit. We used the data collected by ORNL in 2011 that is now accessible to the public. We pose that, if the age of the lake is older than the amount of lead will increase in the catfish when the amount of lead in the fish is a function of how old the lake is. Assuming the age of the lake would affect the amount of lead in the fish. The lakes that we picked were Tellico Lake, Melton Hill Lake, Watts Bar Lake, and Fort Loudon Lake. We chose these lakes because they are close to where we live, and we thought they would provide enough diversity to compare. We wanted to do the project in our area so we could relate our results to ourselves and the people around

Fort Loudon connects to the Tellico Reservoir and Watts Bar Reservoir via canal and lock. Some of the main fish harvest out of the lake are: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, and catfish. To this day there is still a consumption advisory for catfish and largemouth bass over two pounds due to the levels of contaminants in the water.

Watts Bar Lake was completely created in 1942 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA, 2013). Watts bar lake connects to the Chickamauga reservoir by a lock. Watts Bar native fish are: spotted bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, crappie, and black bass. Likewise to the lakes talked about above, this lake also contains harmful contaminants, one of them being lead.

Many people eat catfish from all of these lakes, and catfish are bottom feeders. Lead sinks to the bottom of the lake because the atomic weight of lead is higher than that of water; lead is also denser than water allowing it to sink to the bottom. When catfish eat anything off the bottom of the lakes they are also consuming small amounts of lead that accumulates over the course of its life. When people consume the catfish, they are also consuming small amounts of lead. The more fish one eats, the more lead accumulates in one 's