https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/
Northern miners were required to breathe in ground aluminum dust from 1943 to 1979
Friends, family and advocates for the 25,000 miners who were forced to inhale McIntyre Powder walked away from the Legislative Assembly on Thursday without the Ontario apology they were expecting.
Northern miners were required to breathe in the ground aluminum dust, known as McIntyre Powder, before they started their shifts from 1943 until 1979.
They were told the powder would protect them from the lung disease silicosis, but years later, many developed diseases such as Parkinson’s — a brain disorder that tends to worsen over time, affecting the ability to speak and walk.
In 2020, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB) confirmed miners forced to inhale McIntyre Powder were at a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s. Janice Martell started the McIntyre Powder Project to prove there was a potential link between inhaling the powder and neurological disease. Her father, Jim Hobbs, inhaled the powder while working as a miner, and died in 2017 of Parkinson’s.
For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/mcintyre-powder-no-apology-ontario-1.6434492