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The School of Labour Studies Speaker Series proudly presents:
50 Guinea Pigs, 13 Rabbits, 20,000 Miners: The McIntyre Powder Experiment
With Janice Martell
Thursday, March 23, 2017
2:30-4:30pm
L.R. Wilson Hall 1003
Description:
Between 1943 and 1980, at least 20,000 miners were dosed by their employers with McIntyre Powder – respirable aluminum/aluminum oxide dust – on the unproven theory that it would prevent silicosis. Under threat of job loss and in the absence of informed consent, these miners became unwilling lab rats in a government-sanctioned industrial disease experiment. No other humans have been exposed to aluminum in this form, intensity, duration, or by similar route of administration (an inhalable, airborne suspension). The impacts on their health remain unknown.
Janice Martell established the McIntyre Powder Project to seek answers about the aluminum dust program and its long-term health impacts. Janice is the daughter of one of the miners of the McIntyre Powder experiment, Jim Hobbs - who suffers from Parkinson’s. In her first speaking engagement open to the general public, Janice will share her research discoveries about the history of the McIntyre Powder experiment, her experiences in challenging the workplace compensation system, and the stories of mining families that were left in the dust.
About the Speaker:
Janice Martell graduated in 1988 from Carleton University with a Bachelor’s degree in Law and Psychology. She also holds a Certificate in Addiction Studies from McMaster University. Janice has spent her career in the helping profession, working in child welfare, social assistance, mental health and addictions services. Janice lives with her husband Don in Elliot Lake, Ontario. She is passionate about her McIntyre Powder Project work, and remains grateful for the kinships being forged with mining families.
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