Nunavik board says Zamboni fumes contributed to hockey illnesses

Players are treated with oxygen at Kangiqsualujjuaq’s health centre April 11 after coming down with headaches and sore throats after being poisoned by nitrogen dioxide leaking from a refrigeration system at the local hockey arena. (FILE PHOTO)

Fumes from a Zamboni ice-grooming machine appears to have caused some hockey players to get sick at a recent tournament in the Nunavik community of Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik’s regional health board says.

Co-ordinators of the Nunavik Youth Hockey Development Program cancelled the April 11 bantam tournament after many players, all under 15, developed coughs, sore throats and headaches.

Results of gas tests in the arena, along with the symptoms experienced by those affected, point towards nitrogen dioxide emitted from the Zamboni as the cause of the incident, the Nunavik Regional Board of health and social services said in an April 22 update.

Normally, small amount of noxious fumes produced by a Zamboni would be cleared by the building’s ventilation system or else people inside the building would have been alerted to those fumes by gas detectors.

But neither were functioning April 11 when hockey players began complaining that they felt ill.

The health board said that “a combination of factors contributed to this event, such as higher gas emission levels than normal from the Zamboni, its more frequent use than usual due to a hockey tournament, as well as possible issues with the ventilation system and gas detectors.”

Medical staff examined more than 140 people in Kangiqsualujjuaq, the health board said in its first official confirmation of numbers of those affected.

Of these, 30 received oxygen and seven were transported to Kuujjuaq for further medical attention, the health board said.

“Everyone recovered quickly and is symptom-free,” the board said.

Nunavik’s public health director, Dr. Serge Déry, said the arena can be reopened for activities that do not require use of the Zamboni.

Public health officials will follow up with Nunavik’s 13 other Northern Village municipalities to prevent similar incidents, the board said.