STEM 1 is taught by Dr. Crowthers and
focuses on a five-six month long independent study project. This project can be a science
, engineering, or mathematical project. With Dr. C as your advisor, you brainstorm, narrow your project
idea, create your methods, and execute your project. You then present at February fair at Mass Academy with
the other students or possibly bigger prizes depending on the success of your project. A general overview of
my project is seen below.
The overall objective of this project is to find at what proximity an object which gives off airborne
wheat flour dust particles has a large enough gluten content, to possibly give a person with
celiac disease an allergic reaction. I will collect dust samples with a controlled distribution of
wheat flour particles as well as a more realistic environment with random distribution of wheat
flour and use a colorimetric protein assay to measure the contents of various proteins at
different distances and graph them on a standard curve. I suspect that as the distance increases
the particles will disperse and the potential danger will significantly decrease. I believe the
danger of airborne particles will be insignificant until extremely close to the source.
Abstract
Around 1 percent of people around the world
are affected by celiac disease, an autoimmune disease creating an intolerance to
gluten. Gluten particles can contaminate food directly and then be ingested or become
airborne and contaminate food indirectly. They can also be inhaled. Although inhaled particles
often are not enough to cause a reaction, if enough are consumed, a reaction can occur.
The distance at which airborne gluten particles become dangerous is unknown. To study the
possible effects of inhalable gluten particles, airborne dust will be collected from a bread
sample made of wheat flour. A protein assay will then be used to find the concentrations of gluten
proteins at specified distances. Inhaling gluten may only become dangerous for people with celiac
disease at a very short distance away from a bread product of three and one third cups of wheat flour
(approximately 430 grams) when in proximity for 12 hours. These results show evidence that many public
areas that are high exposure and allow for long occupation times still have an extremely small potential
for hazard. This evidence allows vendors that sell or prepare both glutinous and non-glutinous products
to create a safe space for patrons and the food that they prepare. The next step for this topic would
include researching the time and amount of gluten for the experiments.
Background
In recent times, celiac disease has become a very common problem and reactions to gluten can
range from bothersome to disastrous. It affects more people everyday, recent numbers showing
around 1% of the global population is affected to some degree (Pultz, 2021). The only solution
to not receiving the symptoms of celiac disease is to follow a strict gluten free diet and even
then it can become a problem. Airborne dust, especially in occupational environments, can be
an incredibly harsh hazard (Stobnicka, 2015). There have been various studies connecting
admittance into hospitals because of airborne particulate matter and respiratory problems.
(Kumar, 2021). If under the restrictions of celiac disease, these small inhalable particles can
become even more dangerous. Wheat flour, an extremely common kitchen item, is made from
milling down wheat grains. This is the same as other flours. This grinding process releases
many tiny particles that may be inhaled if in the vicinity. The finer the particle, the more
dangerous (Lin, 2019). Regardless of the danger of particles, if breathed in by a celiac patient it
can cause dire symptoms. As it is unavoidable in some situations, finding how dangerous
household airborne dust may be is an important topic for the safety of celiac patients.
Procedure
I will make simple bread dough out of wheat flour, water and yeast. I will leave it in an open area
to rise and set out nine petri dishes at average human shoulder height evenly spaced 60o apart
and 3 feet away from the bread, increasing the distance by three feet for each petri dish. I will let
the dough and petri dishes sit for 12 hours. I will take an assay of diluted wheat flour as a
control and get colorimetric data using a plate reader and to set the curve for my graph. For
each sample, I will also take an assay for each petri dish and set it to the curve on my graph. I
will repeat this process for a busy, realistic area: my kitchen.
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References
Shewry, P. (2019). What Is Gluten—Why Is It Special? Frontiers in Nutrition, 6. doi:10.3389/fnut.2019.00101
Pultz, I. S., Hill, M., Vitanza, J. M., Wolf, C., Saaby, L., Liu, T., Leffler, D. A. (2021, March 17). Gluten Degradation, Pharmacokinetics, Safety, and Tolerability of TAK-062, an Engineered Enzyme to Treat Celiac Disease. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ ii/S0016508521005278.
Lee, L. Burks, A. (2006, Aug 21). Food Allergies: Prevalence, Molecular Characterization, and Treatment/Preve ntion Strategies. Annual Reviews.
Stobnicka, A., & Górny, R. L. (2015). Exposure to flour dust in the occupational environment. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic les/PMC4685600/#CIT0064
Biesiekierski, J. R. (2017, February 28). What is gluten? Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://onlinelibr ary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgh.13703?identityKey=3ba7d807-eacd-4552af38dfe2567 da9b8®ionCode&wol1URL=/doi/10.1111/jg h.13703/ful
Brough, H. A., Santos, A. F., Makinson, K., Penagos, M., Stephens, A. C., Douiri, A., . . . Lack, G. (2013). Peanut protein in household dust is related to household peanut consumption and is biologically active. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 132(3), 630-638. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2013.02.034
