Does Bug Spray Kill Grass? Breck Student Finds Answers
A good scientist does an incredible amount of research and experimentation to come to a conclusion, and that’s certainly true of Selena Qiao.
Qiao, pronounced “chow,” is a junior at Breck and an avid golfer.
“I’ve loved the sport since I was like in probably sixth or seventh grade,” said Qiao.
Two years ago, she noticed a sign at a local course that raised some questions.
“I saw this sign which told golfers, please don’t apply bug spray while standing on the grass, it damages the grass,” Qiao said.
However, Qiao couldn’t find anything online that proved whether the statement was true.
“Usually if I Google something, it’ll be like studies popping up,” she said. “And so that’s what actually led me to that question — does bug spray kill grass?”
That question led to an extensive project involving Qiao and her research partner, Abby. The students studied the effects of DEET, one of the main chemicals in bug repellent, on grass.
“They rigorously tested it, using the level of rigor that we’d expect for a scientific paper,” said Kati Kragstorp, an advanced science research teacher at Breck.
Kragstorp says Qiao and her partner ultimately concluded, after months of research and experimentation, that DEET does, in fact, kill grass within an hour of exposure and the grass never recovers.
Abigail Endres and Selena Qiao look at grass that’s been exposed to DEET. Photo courtesy: Breck
Earning top honors
The study helped the students win first prize at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) in Virginia.
The prize came with a $12,000 scholarship.
“When they called [Qiao’s] name, for one second I thought ‘oh no, no, no, we’ve got the name wrong, it can’t possibly be her,'” Kragtorp said. “And then I was looking around and everyone was like no, no this is really her. It was absolutely mind-blowing.”
“I’m just a girl who’s killing grass, basically,” Qiao said. “So it was really cool winning ’cause it meant that the judges saw value in my project and my story.”
It’s a story that’s not finished.
Qiao is just a junior at Breck, and she still aims to find out why DEET kills grass.
In the meantime, her request is for people to be more careful when they use bug spray.
“Don’t stop using them, but it’s an easy fix. Just don’t stand on the grass while applying it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Qiao says she’s undecided on a college, but she plans to study something in the field of STEM.
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