School Experiment That Burned Boy Was Focus of Federal Warning
Only weeks before a chemistry experiment sent a
plume of fire across a Manhattan high school science lab, engulfing two
students and leaving one with life-threatening burns, a federal safety
agency issued a
video warning of the dangers of the very same experiment, a
common one across the country.
The agency, the United States Chemical Safety
Board, distributed the video warning to its 60,000 subscribers, a spokeswoman,
Hillary Cohen, said Friday, but it had no sure way to reach individual teachers
at schools like Beacon High School on the Upper West Side. There on Thursday,
Anna Poole, a young science teacher known for safety consciousness, used
methanol as an accelerant to burn dishes of different minerals in the chemistry
demonstration known as the Rainbow.
With about 30 students watching from their desks, a
snakelike flame tore through the air, missing the students closest to the
teacher’s desk, but enveloping Alonzo Yanes, 16, searing and melting the skin
on his face and body, according to witnesses. He was in critical condition on
Friday in the burn unit of NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Myrna Manners, a hospital
spokeswoman, said.
Another student, Julia Saltonstall, 16, saw her
thin T-shirt burned off her torso in an instant as some of her long dark hair
went up in smoke, her father said. Though she was no farther from the
demonstration than Alonzo, she escaped with only first-degree burns.
More...
CSB Releases Safety Message on Preventing Accidents in High School Chemistry Labs
Washington, DC, December 10, 2013—The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released, “After the Rainbow,” (http://www.csb.gov/videos/after-the-rainbow/) a video safety message focused on potential dangers in high school chemistry laboratories. The message features Calais Weber, an accident survivor, who on January 23, 2006, at age 15 was burned over 40 per cent of her body during a chemistry demonstration performed by her teacher at a prestigious boarding school she attended in Ohio.
In her own words, Calais describes the demonstration, called the “rainbow experiment,” that was meant to show how various mineral salts produce different color flames when burned. Mineral salts were mixed with highly flammable methanol in small dishes.
CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso said, “This is a new kind of video safety message for the CSB. Too often, chemical accident victims –survivors as well as fatalities -- are forgotten as time goes on. In this video, Ms. Weber tells a painful and poignant story that we hope resonates in high school and academic labs across the country.” The video is a follow up to “Experimenting with Danger,”concerning laboratory accidents in three major universities.
CSB Releases Safety Message on Preventing Accidents in High School Chemistry Labs
Washington, DC, December 10, 2013—The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released, “After the Rainbow,” (http://www.csb.gov/videos/after-the-rainbow/) a video safety message focused on potential dangers in high school chemistry laboratories. The message features Calais Weber, an accident survivor, who on January 23, 2006, at age 15 was burned over 40 per cent of her body during a chemistry demonstration performed by her teacher at a prestigious boarding school she attended in Ohio.
In her own words, Calais describes the demonstration, called the “rainbow experiment,” that was meant to show how various mineral salts produce different color flames when burned. Mineral salts were mixed with highly flammable methanol in small dishes.
CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso said, “This is a new kind of video safety message for the CSB. Too often, chemical accident victims –survivors as well as fatalities -- are forgotten as time goes on. In this video, Ms. Weber tells a painful and poignant story that we hope resonates in high school and academic labs across the country.” The video is a follow up to “Experimenting with Danger,”concerning laboratory accidents in three major universities.
More... http://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-safety-message-on-preventing-accidents-in-high-school-chemistry-labs/
