By:Hector Flores
Three of the Central District finalists attend Kennedy High School and one, Calhoun High School. And for the first time in the history of the fair, a junior -- Benjamin Blanck, 16, of Kennedy High -- has been named among the finalists. Normally, only seniors go to the final round.
Barbi Frank, a science research mentor at Kennedy High School, said Blanck, of Bellmore, was able to enter his Authentic Science Research in the fair because the majority of his research was complete.
Blanck entered his study of "Chromated Copper Arsenate in Pressure-Treated Wood." He discovered his topic when he first entered the Kennedy research program in ninth grade.
"I had read an article about a woman who was sent to the hospital for arsenic poisoning, and her husband had been arrested," he said. "But in reality, the poisoning came from the wood in the house."
Blanck said the CCA-treated wood he is studying is popular because it is treated with arsenic, which repels insects, while the chromated copper acts as a wood sealent. But if the wood is cut, a person can be poisoned by the sawdust.
Blanck also said, "Human sweat is slightly acidic and pulls arsenic out of wood. A person or a child is exposed to arsenic when sweaty hands touch contaminated wood and absorb arsenic through the skin."
While researching his project, Blanck and his mentor, Herbert Goldstein, contacted the New York Institute of Technology, University at Miami, University of North Carolina and a Louisiana attorney who was working on an arsenic poisoning case.
Right now, Blanck and Goldstein are working to develop a testing kit that would safely detect arsenic in wood.
Blanck's research findings are so compelling that they led a contractor to switch from using CCA-treated to non-treated wood. "We just had a contractor build a deck at our home," said Benjamin Blanck's mother, Lisa. "And our son told the contractor that he was using wood with arsenic in it. The contractor even read my son's report and decided to use a different kind of wood, which is safer to use."
Ms. Blanck added that her son has met with local elected leaders to speak about the potential dangers of CCA-treated wood, scientists, professors and lawyers. And she is happy that her son found a project he loves and is proud of.
"I'm extremely elated," said Benjamin Blanck. "I'm 16 years old, talking to scientists and senators, and being taken seriously."
Joining Blanck as LISEF finalists are fellow Authentic Science Research students and Intel semifinalists: Gayle Denman, 17, and Carol Eisenstat, 17, from Kennedy, and Helaina Skop, 17, from Calhoun. All three are from Merrick.
