Ex-Alcan employees blame smelters for lung cancer

Families of 10 former Alcan employees who contracted lung cancer while working at smelters in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region won a long-standing battle on Friday as a Quebec workplace accident commission ruled they should be compensated. The commission found that the workers were exposed to several dangerous carcinogens during 20 years of work. The employees were working in Jonquiere and Alma smelters, located about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City. They were hired between 1943 and 1970, when work safety regulations were not as strict as they are now. The workers were exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are airborne chemicals formed during the incomplete burning of fuels. In its ruling, the board described their work environment as "hot and dusty." During the hearings doctors testified that exposure to PAHs was most likely responsible for the workers lung cancer. All 10 employees were smokers and a previous decision from another Quebec workplace safety commission ruled nicotine addiction had caused their cancer. "We are really happy, it's a great victory," said Marie-Jo Bouchard, a lawyer for the families. All 10 workers have died of lung cancer since the beginning of the case. The decision means the families will be able to apply for compensation under Quebec's laws. A spokesperson for Quebec workplace safety commission stressed every case is different, but said indemnities could add up to more than $100,000 per family. For it's part, Alcan said it would take the time to carefully study the report before making any comment. But a spokesperson stressed that the work conditions described in the ruling have long since changed. "The health of workers is now comparable to the rest of the population," said Claudine Gagnon. In the 1980s, Alcan workers started to complain about health issues related to gas and dust emissions. A number of studies were conducted and in the 1990s some of them found aluminum workers from Soderberg plants -- a smeltering technique -- were twice as likely to develop lung cancer. Union officials at the Jonquiere smelter have been trying to get better compensation for sick workers since 1997. They are more than pleased with the commission's ruling. "Today's decision is an important one. We are finally seeing results," said Jacques Gravel, a spokesperson for the union which is affiliated with the Canadian Auto Workers.