Hi all,
I'm a high school student looking to perform research for science fair, but I want to make sure my experiment follows the "Use of Humans as Test Subjects" rules.
1. Part of my experiment requires participants to undergo ~24 hours of sleep loss. I understand that sleep loss is taxing on the body, but the negative effects of pulling an all-nighter do not pose any serious health risks and disappear after a good night's sleep. Would this violate the rule "Humans must not be subjected to treatments that are considered hazardous and that could result in undue stress, injury, or death to the subject"?
2. My experiment also requires the administration of caffeine and the measurement of its effects. I have seen projects measuring the effects of caffeine at previous science fairs, but they generally use coffee or soda as the source of caffeine. I don't want to add extra variables (sugars and synthetic ingredients in soda, phytochemicals in coffee, etc.) that may also affect subjects' performance, and I want to administer at least 100 mg of caffeine (equivalent to a cup of coffee). Would the use of OTC caffeine pills, or Energy Sheets (basically caffeinated breath strips) violate the rule "Quantities of food/beverages are limited to normal serving amounts... No project may use over the counter or prescription drugs or any other chemical agents to measure their effect on a person"? If so, do you have any alternative suggestions?
Thanks so much, I really appreciate the help!
