McIntyre Powder Project

The McIntyre Powder Project and the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Inc. (OHCOW) are hosting FREE public information events in Timmins, Ontario on May 10, 2018. These sessions will provide updates on OHCOW's work with the McIntyre Powder-exposed mine workers who registered during or since the 2016 McIntyre Powder Intake Clinics. Scientific research involving McIntrye Powder (aluminum dust) will be discussed, as well as historical discoveries involving the McIntyre Powder aluminum prophylaxis program.  Please see details below and plan to join us! 

 

WHAT:  "Occupational Disease in Mining and McIntyre Powder Research" free public seminar

Target audience:  mine workers, their families, local physicians and researchers, general public

WHEN: Thursday, May 10, 2018 - Afternoon Session: 1-3 p.m. Evening Session: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Ramada Inn Ballroom - 1800 Riverside Drive, Timmins, Ontario 705-267-6241 

 

PRESENTATIONS (time frame includes presentation - Q & A /discussion time to follow):

Afternoon Session (1-3 p.m.)

1 to 2 p.m. 

 ·         McIntyre Powder Project & Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)

Janice Martell, Dave Wilken

o   History of the McIntyre Powder aluminum prophylaxis program

o   Updates on McIntyre Powder-exposed worker group at OHCOW 

 

  2 to 2:30 p.m. 

·         Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Laurentian University

Andrew Zarnke, PhD candidate, Dr. Christopher Thome

o   Radon and McIntyre Powder  

 

2:30 to 3 p.m.

·         Discussion, Q & A, Wrap-Up 

        o   Opportunity for questions from audience, Discussion, Future Steps

 

 Evening Session (6:30 to 8:30 p.m.)

Same order of presentation, content, and format as afternoon session 

6:30 to 7:30 p.m.  - Dave and Janice

7:30 to 8 p.m.  - Andrew and Chris

8 to 8:30 p.m. - Discussion, Q & A, Wrap-Up

Please join McIntyre Powder Project Founder Janice Martell at Injured Workers Day - June 1, 2017 in Toronto. Schedule of events is below.  Janice will be speaking at the Rally, following the march from Queen's Park to the Ministry of Labour Head Office.  Janice will also be one of the panelists at the 2 p.m. event at OCAD auditorium.

Injured Workers’ Day 2017 Schedule of Events

 

·         May 31^st, Dinner at 7pm, Vigil at 8pm

Overnight Vigil at Queen’s Park

Cultural showcase to celebrate the resilience of injured workers, featuring music, poetry, storytelling, and satire. Led by the Women of Inspiration Injured Worker Group.

 

·         June 1^st 11:30am, Queen’s Park

WORKERS’ COMP IS A RIGHT! INJURED WORKERS’ DAY  RALLY & MARCH

Despite the epidemic of precarious, unsafe, and toxic work, the WSIB is more concerned with its own bottom line than with protecting the well-being of injured workers. We need to come together and demand our right to compensation. Join us on the streets!

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1044072909025603/

 

·         June 1^st, 2:00pm, OCAD Auditorium (100 McCaul St., room 190)

Fighting Back Against Unsafe and Toxic Work

A panel discussion featuring workers who are organizing in different sectors but on similar issues. We aim to open a conversation on how we can connect our organizing efforts and bring together a powerful, worker-led front for safe work and full compensation. Featured speakers include:

o  Janice Martell – Founder of the McIntyre Powder Project

o  Sue James – Retired worker from the Peterborough GE factory

o  Heather Neiser – Healthcare worker and anti-workplace violence activist with OCHU

o  Len Elliott – OPSEU executive member and Health & Safety advocate

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1960098277553292/

Click on the "LINKS" tab on this website for two exciting NEW! postings:  

(1) April 6, 2017 - Fifth Estate update video on the work of the McIntyre Powder Project over the year since the January 29, 2016 Fifth Estate broadcast of "The Miner's Daughter" episode.

(2) April 6, 2017 - CBC News Report: "Ontario health agency finds 'concerning' rate of ALS in miners exposed to McIntyre Powder"

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.