Miners who were provided with what was believed to be protective treatment against silicosis in the 1950s to 1970s in Canada have been granted access to the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s compensation system.
The powder, known as McIntyre Powder, was provided to mine workers and marketed as a protective treatment.
“The theory, eventually proved false, was that inhaling the powder would protect workers’ lungs” from diseases like silicosis, a United Steelworkers union news release said on Tuesday.
“Instead, it made workers sick, and led to many deaths,” and there are also reports of former workers contracting Parkinson’s disease.
In March of 2020, the Ministry of Labour received a report from a leading cancer specialist which noted “a statistically significant increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in miners exposed to McIntyre Powder.”
A ministry spokeswoman said the department has since “made amendments to a regulation under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, to now formally recognize Parkinson’s disease as an occupational disease linked to work-related McIntyre Powder exposure.”