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<p class="content">A bottle of cold drink is a fantastic idea on a scorching summer day, but what if the drink is contaminated with plasticizers? Many people know that plastic bottles will release harmful plasticizers into the drink at high temperatures, so they sensibly avoid leaving bottled drinks or water in hot places, like their cars. However, what if the drink has been contaminated during transportation from the factory to the retail store?</p> | <p class="content">A bottle of cold drink is a fantastic idea on a scorching summer day, but what if the drink is contaminated with plasticizers? Many people know that plastic bottles will release harmful plasticizers into the drink at high temperatures, so they sensibly avoid leaving bottled drinks or water in hot places, like their cars. However, what if the drink has been contaminated during transportation from the factory to the retail store?</p> | ||
<p class="content">Besides bottled beverages, many other products, such as cosmetics or medicine, may pose potential threats to human health if they are stored at inadequate temperatures or exposed to sunlight for too long during the delivery process. The danger is real and immediate, but it is humanly impossible to monitor every delivery procedure. Therefore, we plan to invent a biosensor which can help monitor and ensure the cargo quality in transit.</p> | <p class="content">Besides bottled beverages, many other products, such as cosmetics or medicine, may pose potential threats to human health if they are stored at inadequate temperatures or exposed to sunlight for too long during the delivery process. The danger is real and immediate, but it is humanly impossible to monitor every delivery procedure. Therefore, we plan to invent a biosensor which can help monitor and ensure the cargo quality in transit.</p> | ||
− | <p class="content">Though we were inspired by the release of plasticizer from the bottle into the drinking water, we soon found that there is not much difference between the amount of plasticizer released at 25 degrees Celsius and that released at 35 degrees Celsius (or a bit higher). Thus, we decided to apply our product mainly to foods, cosmetics | + | <p class="content">Though we were inspired by the release of plasticizer from the bottle into the drinking water, we soon found that there is not much difference between the amount of plasticizer released at 25 degrees Celsius and that released at 35 degrees Celsius (or a bit higher). Thus, we decided to apply our product mainly to foods, cosmetics and medicines. The target temperature we’ve set is 37 degrees Celsius, the temperature at which bacteria reproduce most rapidly.</p> |
− | + | <p class="content">However, chance always outpaces plans. After reviewing the answers to the questionnaires that we designed, doing more research on the Internet, and asking experts in the food transportation field, we soon realized that our products are not useful in frozen food transportation. Thus, we shifted our focus to nutrition supplements, cosmetics, and medicines eventually.</p> | |
− | + | <p class="content">How will temperature affect the quality of these products? We can look deeply into three aspects. First, most germs like to grow in warmer temperatures like 37 degrees Celsius, so if the product is exposed to high temperatures for too long, it will increase the chances of the product going bad. Second, oil and water don’t mix without the help of the emulsifier. However, the emulsifier would start to lose its effect as the temperature rises. When it reaches 40 degrees Celsius, the emulsifier will totally lose its effect, which turns cosmetic products useless and disgusting. Third, dietary supplements, like vitamin B, lose their nutrients under high temperatures. To guarantee the quality, it’s crucial to keep the temperature low.</p> | |
<p class="title">Background</p> | <p class="title">Background</p> |
Revision as of 13:47, 1 November 2017