With the increasing number of artificial sweeteners used in food products, people are wondering what kind of effects they may have on the world. One type of sweetener, acesulfame potassium, is criticized by many organizations and people who claim it is one of the most dangerous sweeteners. Are artificial sweeteners great products that promote weight loss and lead to a leaner and fitter world, or do artificial sweeteners cause weight gain and health problems? What other effects can artificial sweeteners have on the environment? Can Acesulfame Potassium Harm Plant Life? This question is the subject of this study. Searching using the search words “potassium effects of acesulfame” yielded 1,410 results and the search words “effect of artificial sweeteners on plant growth” yielded 8,050 results on Google Scholar from 2009 to 2013. The words “Effects of Artificial Sweeteners on Animals” yielded 7,030 results from 2010 to 2014. This literature review was organized around the following related topics: environmental pollution, effects on bacteria and other microorganisms, and effects on humans and other mammals. Pollution from artificial sweeteners Sweeteners in the environmentMawhinney and Young el al. (2011) found the artificial sweetener, sucralose, in many freshwater sources. The researchers found that sucralose was more prevalent in water sources affected by wastewater, as opposed to water that was not, such as that used for recreational use. It was also found that free chlorine or chloramines were unable to effectively filter sucralose from the water. The researchers said that sucralose could be used to effectively indicate anthropogenic influence. The study also found that the concentration of sucralose was not great... middle of paper... in roorganisms and mammals. These studies suggest that artificial sweeteners can have huge negative consequences on consumption. More research may be needed to fully understand the effects of these artificial sweeteners, given that there is little research related to their effects on the environment and that the effects of artificial sweeteners on humans are highly controversial. Do artificial sweeteners harm life as a whole? There may be evidence to support the negative effects of artificial sweeteners on humans, microorganisms and the environment, although it is difficult to say how severe these effects will be or how much artificial sweeteners will be needed to cause problems. The goal of this study is to find the effects of artificial sweeteners on plant life, further increasing knowledge of the effects of this growing pollutant.