Not
ones
to
rest
on
their
laurels,
Charles
J.
Colgan
Sr.
High
School
students
Tony
Bright,
Arman
Lateef,
and
Gabriel
Ralston,
have
built
on
their
science
fair
success
to
have
their
research
published
in
the
Pre-Collegiate
Health
Review.
The
trio
first
participated
in,
and
won
first
place
at,
the
Prince
William
County
Science
Fair
and
the
Virginia
Junior
Academy
of
Science
(VJAS)
with
their
project
testing
the
protective
qualities
of
facemasks
against
pollution.
Some
of
the
judges
at
VJAS
were
so
impressed
with
their
research
that
it
was
suggested
the
students
consider
submitting
to
a
journal
for
publication.
The
three
have
worked
as
a
team
on
many
projects
over
the
years,
including
robotics,
science
fair,
and
other
competitions.
"The
experience
of
conducting
the
experiment
as
well
as
entering
fairs
was
incredibly
fun,"
said
Ralston.
"It
is
amazing
that
we
have
been
able
to
publish
our
work."
Lateef
explained
how
the
project
originated.
"As
an
asthma
sufferer,
I
am
very
aware
of
the
effects
of
environmental
pollution
and
its
impact
on
health.
When
I
visited
my
family
in
India,
I
was
stunned
by
the
poor
air
quality.
I
saw
many
people
wearing
masks
and
wondered
how
effective
these
were.
I
knew
that
between
the
three
of
us
we
had
enough
expertise
to
design
a
project
to
answer
this
question.
So,
we
engineered
a
chamber
to
simulate
a
real
polluted
environment
and
used
fruit
flies
as
an
animal
model
to
study
the
impact
of
inhaled
particulate
matter
on
lifespan
and
fertility."
Publishing
in
a
prestigious
journal
allowed
the
students
to
share
their
research
with
other
scientists
to
possibly
influence
future
studies
on
the
effects
of
pollution
on
humans.
"We
were
able
to
show
the
use
of
common
facemasks
and
share
how
well
those
actually
protect
the
body
from
pollutants.
Overall,
this
project
was
a
very
informative
journey
which
we
hope
will
provide
insight
on
the
effects
of
pollution,"
said
Bright.
Publishing
in
a
prestigious
journal
allowed
the
team
to
share
their
research
with
other
scientists.
The
team
plans
to
continue
their
research
and
advocacy
efforts
with
regard
to
environmental
health.
Please
visit
their
organization
website:
Healthy
Environments
Advance
Life
or
HEAL
.
They
hope
to
engage
and
educate
young
students
on
how
the
environment
affects
human
life.