RED LAKE — An advocate for miners exposed to a harmful powder recently paid a visit, looking to share information and resources.
On Sept. 12 and 13, Janice Martell came to Red Lake to share information about the McIntyre Powder project.
From 1943 to 1979, miners and factory workers in over 200 work sites around the world were subjected to a mandatory procedure of the inhalation of the harmful powder known as McIntyre powder. This was a finely ground aluminum dust that was blown into the workers’ change rooms each shift by way of compressed air systems.
The McIntrye treatment was administered as a preventative measure to protect against the risk of workers contracting the lung disease known as silicosis. The powder was meant to be breathed in by the workers before their shift and coat the lungs. The treatment was used on tens of thousands of workers in Canada, the United States, Western Australia, Mexico, England, Belgian Congo, and Chile.
However, the powder did not protect the workers from silicosis. The claim that it would have protective qualities was found to be unsubstantiated, and its effects opened the workers up to many more lifelong ailments.
Jim Hobbs was one of the thousands of workers that was required by his employer to inhale the powder and subsequently developed Parkinson’s disease.
With no family history of Parkinson’s, his daughter, Janice Martell, began research into the disease to try to find where it came from. In her research, she uncovered the shocking story of the McIntyre treatments her father was subjected to.
Janice then began looking into the effects of the aluminum powder, as it is neurotoxic, to try to find a link to her father’s diagnosis. Her work led to formal scientific research that confirmed that the inhalation of McIntyre powder was in fact the cause of her father’s Parkinson’s disease.
Hobbs and his family began a claim for workers benefits in 201, but the claim was denied. The family appealed, but ended up withdrawing the claim in 2014 at the Tribunal appeal level as his health continued to decline. Janice told the WSIB and Tribunal that she would continue to fight for answers regarding the health consequences of aluminum dust inhalation.
“The WSIB had a policy that automatically denied any claims for occupational aluminum exposure and neurological disorders,“ says Martell. “It was their only negative entitlement policy that they’ve ever had in their whole history.”
Because his Parkinson's was not recognized by WSIB, his family didn’t receive any financial help to care for him and had to rally together to provide 24-hour care. He eventually needed to be placed into a nursing home to best provide for his care.
Hobbs passed away on May 24, 2017. His family began to pursue their benefits claim in 2020 after his death, and they were eventually successful.
“Dad never got to hear the end part of his story, and hear that we succeeded,” says Martell. “But he did know me, he knew that we had started and that we would keep going.”
In 2015, Martell founded the McIntyre Powder Project to seek answers about the long-term effects of the powder after doing a whole year of research. She started with a voluntary registry of workers that were exposed to the powder and disclosure of the ailments these people were living with.
“You start to really see a pattern when you have all those people put together like that,” says Martell.
This launched an investigation by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers to find a correlation between the powder and the physical ailments.
Between 2015-2021, 547 miners had registered with the McIntyre Powder Project. The number has now grown to over 600. As a result of the research being done, the 5th Estate ended up doing a feature on the effects of the powder, and the WSIB ordered a study to be done.
More than half — 58 per cent — of those in the registry reported living with respiratory diagnoses, one-third reported neurological disorders, 27 per cent reported at least one primary cancer diagnosis, and 26 per cent reported being diagnosed with cardiovascular conditions.
In 2020, epidemiological research was conducted by the Occupational Cancer Research Centre and they found a statistically significant elevation in rates of Parkinsons among the miners exposed to the powder compared to non-McIntyre Powder-exposed miners and the general population of Ontario.
As a result of these findings, the workers’ compensation system has recognized the direct link between Parkinson’s and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in McIntyre Powder exposed workers. The WSIB abolished their negative entitlement policy and have made McIntrye Powder related Parkinsons recognized as a schedule 3 occupational disease.
“It’s the first time since 1994 that they’ve added a new disease to the schedules,” says Martell.
McIntyre Powder is now recognized by the WSIB as a dust exposure that contributes to lung disease. Workers affected by the powder are now able to make retroactive claims. Families of deceased workers are also able to make these claims. Further research is ongoing into additional health issues related to the powder.
Janice now works for Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers as an occupational health coordinator, and also continues her voluntary McIntyre Powder Project work. She has been travelling on her own time to the different areas affected by the McIntrye Powder to promote her research and fight. Over 60 people came to Martell’s information sessions in Red Lake. Martell presented about McIntyre Powder, other types of mining exposures, related health issues, and practical supports for making workers’ compensation claims.
She also brought a pair of coveralls that have travelled with her to each community where she has presented. The coveralls are for any miner, not just the ones exposed to McIntyre powder, but for anyone who has an occupational disease as are a visual representation of the many lives changed by workplace hazards.
“Outreach is really important to me, a lot of people are unaware about this, I had no clue that dad was being exposed to this,” says Martell.
Martell has made herself available to the miners that she’s reached in her travels to help them get through the initial paperwork to start their claims, both for health issues related to McIntyre Powder and diseases related to other mining exposures, such as silica dust or diesel exhaust.
“A lot of the people that I am serving are in their 60’s or 70’s and they’re not on social media,” says Martell. “It’s important for the workers to know this stuff, and even the workers of today and just to know what they’re being exposed to.”
