50 Guinea Pigs, 13 Rabbits, 20,000 Miners: A talk on the McIntyre Powder Experiment
On Thursday, March 23 the McMaster community and the public are invited to join the School of Labour Studies for a guest lecture by Janice Martell, Founder of the McIntyre Powder Project.
About the McIntyre Powder Project, Sudbury Ontario
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.
The daughter of one of the miners in the McIntyre Powder Experiment, Janice Martell established the McIntyre Powder Project to seek answers about the aluminum dust program and its long-term health impacts. 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.
Read more about the McIntyre Powder Project on CBC.ca
Free and open to the public.
When: March 23, 2017, 2:30-4:30pm
Where: L.R. Wilson Hall 1003
