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On March 7, 2017, the McIntyre Powder Project and the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Inc. (OHCOW) will be presenting information about mine workers who were exposed to aluminum dust, to an international conference of scientific researchers of aluminum. It is hoped that this meeting will result in research partnerships between OHCOW and scientists, to help determine if there are any associations between occupational aluminum dust exposure and health issues. Our presentation abstract (summary) is below:
PLATFORM 26
The McIntyre Powder Project: A retrospective study of the health effects of respirable aluminum dust in a cohort of Ontario miners
Martell, Janice1 ; Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Inc.
1. Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Inc.
Between 1943 and 1980, at least 20,000 miners were treated prophylactically with McIntyre Powder – a finely ground, respirable dust comprised of 85% aluminum oxide and 15% elemental aluminum. No other group has been exposed to aluminum in this form, intensity, duration, or by similar route of administration (an inhalable, airborne suspension). The only two clinical studies ever conducted on this specific group of workers both supported putative neurologic effects of McIntyre Powder exposure. Over an 18-month period, an informal voluntary registry of 322 exposed workers was compiled by the daughter of a McIntyre Powder-exposed miner – 65% of exposed workers had respiratory diagnoses or symptoms, and 33% had neurological disorders or symptoms. Based on these preliminary findings, a database of exposed mine workers is being compiled by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers to investigate the causal relationship between McIntyre Powder exposure and adverse health outcomes.
Acknowledgements
Archives of Ontario, Laurentian University Labour Studies Program, Elliot Lake Nuclear & Mining Museum, Office of the Worker Advisor, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Sudbury and District Labour Council, Timmins and District Labour Council, Timmins Museum, United Steelworkers District 6. We thank the volunteers at the McIntyre Powder Intake Clinics. We thank the miners and their survivors for participating. We thank the media for their interest in this story, with special thanks to The Fifth Estate.
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