Student Finds Way to Thwart Anthrax

A high school student who showed in a science fair project that using a clothes iron on mail can kill anthrax-like spores inside -- without damaging the contents of the envelope -- will have that research published later this year.

Marc Roberge, 17, a senior at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, decided to experiment on the issue after discussing his father's work as a medical toxicologist for the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention office in the Pittsburgh suburb of South Park. His research will appear in the Journal of Medical Toxicology in June.

“He's just 17. I was 35 before I had my first publication,'' said Raymond Roberge, Marc's father, and an expert on biological agents.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, subsequent anthrax attacks in the mail killed five and injured 17 later that fall. A germ warfare specialist from the former Soviet Union told a Congressional committee in October 2001 that a hot steam iron could be used to kill anthrax spores.

Student Finds Way to Thwart Anthrax