Labour Studies Visiting Speaker: Janice Martell

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.