Determination of the effect of boiling on the biological properties of tap water by means of phytotesting

Introduction. Dosimetric control revealed a significant decrease in the background level of ionizing radiation from tap water after boiling it in various household appliances. As natural doses of ionizing radiation are known to be necessary for the normal functioning of living organisms, it has been suggested that the boiling process may have an adverse effect on the biological properties of water. Materials and Methods. To confirm or refute the indicated assumption, the seeds of barley (Hordeum vulgare) were germinated on tap water, which was boiled in one of the household appliances (microwave oven, electric kettle, ordinary kettle), and measured the length of the roots and epicotyls in 4-day seedlings. Based on the data obtained, the average values of the respective indicators were calculated. Quantitative data were obtained on representative sample sizes and are statistically significant with a probability of 0.05. Results and Discussion. The data obtained during the experimental study indicate that boiled water had a positive effect on the growth of roots and epicotyls of barley seedlings. And if for epicotyls the differences in comparison with the control were statistically insignificant, then for the roots in all experimental variants of germination in boiled water was found a statistically significant increase in the average length of the roots compared to unboiled water (control). Thus, the average length of roots during germination of barley seeds in water boiled on a gas stove was 40.0 ± 4.1 mm, on water boiled in an electric kettle - 33.6 ± 4.6 mm and on water, boiled in a microwave oven, - 32,4 ± 3,5 mm, against 25,7 ± 4,9 mm in control.