MONCTON – A rink operator in Moncton says he’s had some issues with toxic air within the ice rink this winter because of snow buildup.
The Red Ball Internet Centre’s Operation Manager Jean Martin says he has never had a problem with poor air quality bad enough to put the players at risk. But this winter, he’s run into some problems.
“All of the rinks have “sniffers” they’re called and it basically keeps cycling air through it and if it reads if there is any carbon dioxide (CO2) up to a certain point the exhaust fans will kick in,” he said.
He says several times toxic fumes have seeped into the building because heat pipes on the roof were blocked by deep snow.
“The exhaust system is only a small pipe so when it goes up it gets caught in the snow and sucks back in the unit.”
Carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide flowed into the office area, but not near the ice surface or dressing rooms.
In February, the province’s Department of Health sent out a list of recommendations to 98 rinks throughout New Brunswick, citing poor air quality as a safety concern for players and spectators.
Karen White of the department says the idea for the recommendation report was sparked by an incident that happened last year in northern New Brunswick.
Several children fell ill after being exposed to fumes at an ice rink.
“Those incidents happen from time to time and we realized that other province have recommendations available to operators and owners of arenas to prevent public health concern and we did not have any in this province,” she said.
“So we thought it would be a good step to prepare a document based on Health Canada guidelines.”
She says young children, the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions such as asthma are most susceptible to health effects brought on by exposure to carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.
“If they are exposed to these things they might have light-headedness, dizziness and vomiting depending on the levels they are actually exposed to.”
Greg Willis, Executive Director of Moncton Minor Hockey, says player safety is their upmost concern.
“If we smell something or one of our coaches has a concern then we bring it to the community or the owners of the facility,” he said.
But Martin says even with this year’s air quality problem, fumes around the ice surface never exceeded maximum levels set out by the province. He says there has never been any concern for player safety.
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