Vancouver- The presence of second-hand fantanel smoke in some British Columbia Assistant Housing Access facilities is so severe that workers cannot escape “adequate exposure”, even though they live in their offices and do not enter the hallway or tenant rooms.
This is one of the findings of tests conducted in 14 British Columbia Assistant Housing facilities, which contribute to the decision of the province of creating a work group for the purpose of dealing with safety issues-including the second hand phentineal exposure.
The evaluation conducted by the hundreds of security services for BC Housing, testing the testing features in Vancouver and Victoria – to find a high level of airborn fentaile at the main office of all three buildings tested in Vancouver.
In a statement, the Ministry of BC Housing and Municipal Affairs stated that it takes serious concerns about the potential activist risk for Airbourn Phentenail.
“We are working with our colleagues to ensure that the providers can take fast action to protect employees and tenants in the residence,” the statement said.
“Immediate requirement is to reduce the risks known based on exposure evaluation and air quality testing.”
In June, the province announced the formation of a work group to deal with safety in auxiliary housing, which included Fantenal’s other hand in contact.
The group was announced after several recent incidents in housing units, including a fire of June 11 at the former Howard Johnson Hotel at Vancouver, injuring two people.
The ministry had said at the time that tests at 14 features in Vancouver and Victoria have shown that some may be “more likely to have high levels of airborn fennelle, the work has been installed by WorksfBC above the limit.”
The details can be found in more than 600 pages of assessment made by the hundredway.
It was recommended that all three Vancouver facilities improve ventilation in the main office, as well as in some cases make workers mandatory to wear respiratory safety and to strengthen smoking policy enforcement for tenants.
In his assessment of Osborne Facility on West Hastings Street, the examiners found commercial phenomenal exposure in a 12 -hour shift that “the” Gross applied regulatory limits, including the works of the WorksFBC, crossed the applied regulatory limits. ,
The report stated, “This trend is correct in all sample work activities, including time spent in the main office, working in the kitchen, cleaning the shelter areas and performing general duties on the shelter floor,” the report states.
“At the time of evaluation, none of mental health workers were seen wearing respiratory safety.”
Airborne Phentenail levels at other facilities in Vancouver – Al Michelle Place on Alexander Street and Hotel Maple on East Hastings – also exceeded the exposure limit in the office space.
The assessment also found high concentrations in the air of the fluorofental, which is a “structurally modified” version of the fentenyl that can double as the original opioid in all three Vancouver features.
Al Michelle Place’s assessment stated, “Although the level of fantanel on the second floor was approached by eight-hour-average average, the fluorofenteenile concentration was about five times higher, indicating sufficient and related risk about exposure risk.”
11 In the Victoria features conducted, some main offices were found to offer “protective environment” or had fentanyl levels under the regulatory boundaries, while others crossed them and created a “significant health risk” for employees.
Dr. Ryan Marino, a medical toxicist with university hospitals in Cleveland in Ohio, is a medical toxicist of addiction and medical toxic science of opioids such as fenteeniles.
He said that when he did not see the nuances of the assessment, the main risk from Phantenile smoke is the “breakdown product”, resulting in the substance burnt, which can be straight or toxic for a person’s airways surfaces.
“It is actually similar to smog pollution and can give people very important irritation, cough,” Marino said. “(This) can increase the symptoms of asthma, that kind of thing. And so it’s a very real concern, I would say.”
However, he warned against reducing the risk of absorbing the fenteenyl or fluorofntanel through the wind, as the opioid does not suspend in a air fashion and any particle in the air should be transported through air or physical speed.
Marino said, “There will be a lot of physical powder for someone to stay in the air in a significant amount.”
“For someone who is not using drugs, somehow swallowed nothing, the exposure of the second hand, toxicity, the risk of overdose, whatever you want to call it, is very close to zero than the phentinel.”
University of BC Adjint Pro. Mark Hayden agreed, saying he believes that the problem of phentineyl smoking to tenants in auxiliary housing is a direct symptom of drug prohibition – a more fundamental issue that should be dealt with.
“This is a completely projected result of a social policy that we need to fix,” Hayden said, who referred to Fentaenile in a health care setting as a drug.
“We will not have people using Phantenile in our rooms if they can go down for some health facility and talk to a health care worker or a nurse who provided such medicines in the context of healthcare.”
He called supervised consumption sites a major step to address the issue, but not enough.
“Supervised injection sites do not provide medication,” Hayden said. “They provide people a place to inject illegal drugs. Therefore, what we need to do is to provide drugs that people take in terms of health facilities.”
The province has said that it is working with BC Center for Disease Control, WorksFBC and BC Housing to develop guidance of decrease in new exposure in subsidiary housing facilities, and focus on protecting workers and tenants in these buildings.
The statement said, “We hope that there will be more information about the works from Worksafebc and BCCDC, which we can continue to keep people safe.”
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 21 July 2025.
Chak Chang, Canadian Press