Breathe Deep, Boys: Voices of the McIntyre Powder Project Miners

Abstract

Northern Ontario gold and uranium miners represent the largest cohort of industrial laborers who were historically exposed to daily nonconsensual industrial medical treatments involving the inhalation of finely ground aluminum dust known as McIntyre Powder. The daughter of one of those miners founded the McIntyre Powder Project in 2015 to document health issues in exposed miners, in an effort to determine whether her father's Parkinson's was related to aluminum inhalation. In response, 553 miners registered with the McIntyre Powder Project between 2015 and 2021 either directly or by their next-of-kin. This paper compiles their lived experiences of being subjected to McIntyre Powder, which contrasts starkly with the official narrative of the northern Ontario mining industry, which licensed its use globally. Additionally, this paper illuminates concerning industrial practices that emerged from the miners' disclosures, involving incentivized claims suppression, and raising serious questions about the effectiveness of medical screening and regulatory enforcement.

Keywords: McIntyre Powder Project; aluminum; human rights; mining history; occupational disease; occupational health.

Figure 1.

The Mining Act of Ontario initial certificate card of McIntyre Powder Project (MPP) miner Hugh Carlson (printed with permission of Hugh Carlson).

Figure 2.

The Mining Act of Ontario initial certificate photo of Hugh Carlson—28 Oct 1967 (printed with permission of Hugh Carlson).

Figure 3.

The Mining Act of Ontario initial certificate record of employment section, confirming Hugh Carlson's employment and McIntyre Powder (MP) aluminum treatments at Dickenson mine (printed with permission of Hugh Carlson).