Smitha Ramakrishna
ARIZONA
Smitha Ramakrishna, 17, of Chandler, submitted an Intel Science Talent
Search environmental science project investigating what happens to sucralose
(the artificial sweetener marketed as Splenda) after it passes through our
bodies and ends up in a wastewater treatment plant. In the laboratory, Smitha
confirmed that the sweetener resists the two types of bacterial digestion, as
well as other techniques, typically used in conventional wastewater treatment
plants. Only the use of both titanium oxide and ultraviolet light broke the
sucralose into biodegradable molecules, but with extensive time and
concentration requirements. From this latest phase of her three-year study, she
concluded that virtually all of the sucralose consumed is entering the
environment and accumulating in downstream ecosystems. At Corona del Sol High
School in Tempe, Smitha heads the science research club, enjoys Indian classical
dance and raises funds to help children get clean drinking water, an interest
she developed during a visit to the slums of India at age 12. Winner of numerous
science awards, she is the daughter of B. L. and Pushpa Ramakrishna and hopes to
study at Yale or MIT.
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