investigation
Once used to fight lung disease in underground mines, aluminium powder’s deadly consequences are now laid bare

Punch in, strip off, inhale aluminium powder. It’s the way miners started their shifts in WA’s Goldfields, Canada, the US, Chile, Mexico and England between 1943 and 1979. The fine aluminium and aluminium oxide powder was administered to miners in those years as a prophylaxis against the development of silicosis — a common lung disease in miners. Known as McIntyre Powder, the dust was developed in the McIntyre Porcupine mines in Timmins, Ontario, and adopted by WA gold mining firms during the middle part of the 20th century. Miners were made to inhale the powder for up to 20 minutes before their underground shift, after it was dispersed in the air of sealed changerooms. Health professionals and underground workers expressed concerns at the time about the potential adverse health effects of the powder, but nothing had been definitively proven. Until now. Canada’s Occupational Cancer Research Centre released a groundbreaking study in May that found miners who inhaled McIntyre Powder had a higher incidence of Parkinson’s disease. The degenerative disease of the nervous system is a result of damage to dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain, a chemical vital for the smooth control of muscles and movements. The powder did not act as a prophylaxis at all. Instead, it was causing an incurable illness. The concrete link between Parkinson’s and the powder paved the way for a world-first compensation claim in August — potentially opening the way for thousands of other successful claims worldwide. The successful compensation claim was the culmination of Canadian miner’s daughter Janice Martell’s decade-long battle to win compensation for her father, Jim Hobbs, a 22-year veteran of the mining industry who was exposed to McIntyre Powder for just 14 months. WA’s use of McIntyre Powder The WA Chamber of Mines began collecting information on McIntyre Powder as early as 1938 as a treatment for silicosis, the lung disease that was costing the industry in both the deaths of miners and compensation payments. Perth-based medical historian Dr Criena Fitzgerald spent some time documenting the “snake oil” in her 2016 book, Turning Men Into Stone. She wrote that it was common knowledge good ventilation and the suppression of quartz dust was enough to prevent the deadly lung disease, but in a bid to drive down production costs the prophylaxis powder emerged as the preferred preventative. Despite physicians, including the director of tuberculosis control and Commissioner for Public Health Dr Linley Hezell, penning their concerns about the treatment, the Federal Government in March 1948 amended the Mining Act to legislate for “aluminium therapy” to be provided to WA mines. The WA Department of Mines began to act as a McIntyre Research Foundation agent, issuing sub-licences to goldmines across the State. By July 18, 1950, after refitting changerooms and installing injectors, the first aluminium dust was inhaled by gold miners in the Goldfields. At the year’s end, 10 mines were administering the aluminium therapy across 21 changerooms — reaching the lungs of 1450 men. The controversial use of McIntyre Powder in the Goldfields was documented over the decades by the Kalgoorlie Miner, before the practice faded out when it was determined there was no proven protection against silicosis, with the last mention of the therapy in annual reports from the Department of Mines in 1970. But linking the prophylaxis to Parkinson’s has brought the historic “treatment” back into the limelight — thanks largely to one miner’s daughter — Ms Martell. Jim’s Story At 60 years old and after two decades working in Ontario mines, in the summer of 2000 Ms Martell’s father Jim Hobbs noticed a tremor in his fingers. By the end of November, he was forced into early retirement as his balance began to fail and his mental maths became untrustworthy. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2001, and Ms Martell said her father’s 16-year fight with the degenerative disease was what had sparked her battle for justice. “He was one of 11 children. His dad lived until he was 77 and his mother until she was 95 — there is no history of Parkinson’s in the family,” she said. “I didn’t know about the powder until 2011, a decade after Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. “He just didn’t talk about it — they’re miners, they go and do their job, they come back and they don’t complain. “ ‘This is what you do, it’s a part of your treatment. This is good for you — breathe deep, boys, breathe deep. This is your protection’ is what they were told.” She sought compensation for her father’s disease through Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, but this was denied under a blanket policy that prevented those exposed to the powder accessing compensation. “Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and conditions with neurologic effects are not occupational diseases or injuries by accident under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Actwhen they are alleged to result from occupational aluminium exposure,” the policy read. But a freedom of information request, called for by Ms Martell, answered why such a specific claims policy was formed in 1997, through the minutes of Ontario’s Workers Compensation Board. Only a year earlier, there had been a successful case in which an electrician’s exposure to aluminium powder in the workplace was linked to a neurological disability and a compensation payment was issued. It sparked a policy review on the probable connection between occupational exposure to aluminium therapy and neurological disability, with the review examining a study the board had already conducted in 1992 after more than 67 claims from workers with elevated aluminium levels in the blood and urine had been filed. “The evidence currently available is inadequate to allow the panel to conclude that occupational aluminium exposure causes neurological health effects,” the 1992 interim report on aluminium read. “Neither blood nor urine aluminium levels are good indicators for predicting occupational health risks, nor for estimating body burden of aluminium.” The report was reviewed and the board approved the amended policy, which ruled out Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other neurological impairments as occupational diseases that could be linked to aluminium. The policy stayed on the books until June, 2017 — three weeks after Ms Martell’s father lost his fight with Parkinson’s and was laid to rest. The policy was replaced in October this year, to honour the concrete link between the powder and Parkinson’s disease. The battle in Canada Ms Martell’s fight began with the compilation of a voluntary registry for miners and their next of kin — the McIntyre Powder Project — collecting information on their mining history, health status and level of exposure to aluminium powder. From Jim Hobbs, the list grew to 532 — 50 of whom had or were suffering from degeneration of neural pathways, otherwise known as Parkinson’s. Pressure was placed on Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board when the story went public, spurring a three-year investigation by the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, with the results made public on May 8 this year. The study looked at the link between McIntyre Powder and neurological disease risk in the biggest cohort of exposed miners. “Miners with MP exposure had a 34 per cent greater incidence rate of Parkinson’s disease and a 19 per cent greater rate of Parkinsonism compared to miners who had never been exposed,” the study concluded. “With the second exposure assessment approach, the risk of Parkinson’s disease increased with the duration of MP exposure and was highest for workers with more than 10 years of MP exposure.” What set this study apart was the access to administrative health records made available in 1992, rather than reliance on death certificates that often missed neurological diseases. Closer to home Back in Australia, the sample size of miners subject to the therapy is much smaller. Based on WA Department of Mines annual reports, only 4873 WA gold miners had McIntyre Powder exposure documented on their miners’ work cards. These cards lay in the hands of Dr Fitzgerald — red “AL” stamps indicating those now at risk of Parkinson’s. She said unlike the Canadian context, the powder wasn’t so prevalent, but the black dust did douse those unable to dodge the 10-minute treatment each morning. “The public health research department at the University of Western Australia did look at it very briefly, bu our numbers were small,” she said. “They looked at miners who had aluminium therapy and they couldn’t really find any confirmation that it caused dementia or Parkinson’s. “The other part of the problem is because miners tried to get out of it. It isn’t like Canada where they couldn’t escape it — where they would go to work down a tunnel and be dusted with it as they went.” Dr Fitzgerald spoke of miners who recalled rocking up to work late to dodge the dust or others who would walk straight through the changerooms without pausing to let the dust settle in their lungs. Some simply trusted the system, which was supported by the Australian Workers’ Union — hacking up black phlegm as their clothes also collected the dust and turned a charcoal colour. Justice for Jim Ms Martell’s nine-year fight for her father and mining men across the world saw Canada’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board policy “occupational aluminium exposure, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurologic effects” rescinded and removed from the official operational policy manual and rewritten last month. It was the same blanket policy that denied justice for her father in 2011. In a letter penned to the estate of James Hobbs, the board’s adjudicator Emilie Chung recognised: “Parkinson’s disease resulting from occupational exposure to McIntyre Powder as an occupational disease.” Compensation claims for Parkinson’s disease in Canada will still be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but “can be considered favourably” if the worker has medical proof of Parkinson’s and the nature of the worker’s employment resulted in exposure to McIntyre Powder preceding the Parkinson’s diagnosis. It is important to note, despite Mr Hobbs’ long history in the mines, his potential exposure to the powder had only been documented for a little over one year. The use of McIntyre Powder may be a thing of the past, but Ms Martell says the WA Government has a responsibility to the men it put at risk. “The WA Government should also make every effort to notify affected workers of the OCRC findings, and to follow up with those workers or their estates to determine what health issues the McIntyre Powder-exposed miners experienced,” she said. “The Western Australian Government acted as the local agent on behalf of the McIntyre Research Foundation, providing sub-licences to WA goldmines to use McIntyre Powder with their workers. “Accordingly, there is a duty on the WA Government to follow up with the affected workers.” WA mines sub-licensed to use McIntyre Powder WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety acting deputy director-general Sally North said the department was not aware of the three-year investigation into the tie between Parkinson’s and McIntyre Powder. But she said it would “make further inquiries” in light of the link. “The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety was not aware of the investigation into the historical use and worker exposure of McIntyre Powder on Canadian mine sites,” she said. “The department will make further inquiries regarding the results of the report. “DMIRS is currently not aware of any worker claims (including historical) associated between the exposure to aluminium powder on Western Australian mine sites and Parkinson’s disease. “Any claims would be referred to the Government’s State Solicitors Office and be investigated by the department. “The department is committed to improving safety and health outcomes for all workers in the mining industry.”

investigationOnce used to fight lung disease in underground mines, aluminium powder’s deadly consequences are now laid bare

investigation
Once used to fight lung disease in underground mines, aluminium powder’s deadly consequences are now laid bare