Over the past month in Ontario, officers with three different police agencies were taken to hospital following exposure to fentanyl — but research suggests exposure to the drug carries little danger, and some advocates warn misconceptions about the risk can have their own harmful consequences.
On Sunday, police in Durham Region said an officer was taken to hospital after being exposed to fentanyl while making an arrest in Oshawa. That followed similar incidents involving officers from Brantford and Toronto police on Dec. 3 and 17, respectively. Those officers were also taken to hospital, according to police.
But research from the federal health agency and even Canada’s national police service suggests there is no significant risk of poisoning simply from exposure to the drug.
Harm reduction workers like Diana Chan McNally, based in Toronto, say police announcements about medical risks to officers exposed to fentanyl can perpetuate misinformation.
“The only way that you’re going to overdose if you’re in contact with fentanyl is if you ingest it, you actually inject it, you rub it into your epithelial tissues, like the inside of your mouth, your nose, or into your eyes,” McNally said.
“This is unfortunately a myth,” she said.
McNally says it’s not unusual, or unsafe, for frontline workers and emergency responders to come into contact with fentanyl on the job.
“I’ve intervened in a number of overdoses in the past, which means that I’ve absolutely come into contact with fentanyl, and I know this directly now,” she said. “You cannot be poisoned if you’re casually in contact with fentanyl, and I think that’s the key here.”
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is tens of times more potent than morphine and can be prescribed to treat severe pain, though it’s also taken illegally. An overdose of fentanyl can slow breathing and decrease the amount of oxygen reaching the brain, potentially causing brain damage or death.
On its website, Health Canada says “skin exposure to fentanyl is extremely unlikely to immediately harm you” and that it can be safely removed with soap and water.
Symptoms of overdose include but aren’t limited to shallow breathing, decrease in consciousness and pinpoint pupils, the health agency says. Nausea, dizziness, rapid heart rate and “feeling ill” are more in line with heat injuries, dehydration and adrenaline responses, it adds.
The agency also advises wearing gloves, masks and safety glasses when handling any suspicious substance, such as suspected fentanyl.
“Worn correctly, personal protective equipment will protect you,” it says.
RCMP reviewed its approach in 2019
The RCMP reviewed its approach to fentanyl in 2019, saying then that the risk of overdosing from skin exposure to fentanyl was unlikely.
“For most scenarios in which police officers have contact with fentanyl, wearing gloves appears to be enough to protect against overexposure,” an article published in the RCMP’s Gazette said.
“Absorption through the skin is possible but only likely if the substance is potent and stays on the skin for a long time, such as through a medical-grade trans-dermal patch similar to a nicotine patch.”
The article, accessed by CBC News on Dec. 23, appeared to be taken down on the 24th.
According to Toronto police, the officer exposed on Dec. 17 exhibited symptoms consistent with fentanyl exposure. That officer was given naloxone, which counteracts the effects of opioids, before they were taken to hospital, spokesperson Stephanie Sayer told CBC News.
Asked what symptoms the officer experienced or whether gloves were worn, the force did not say.
The incident prompted Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw to release a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying “officers face many dangers and are trained to respond quickly in emergency situations.”
The Dec. 22 incident in Oshawa is still being investigated, Durham police said. Officers are given safety equipment and trained to use it when on duty, a spokesperson for the service said in an email.
Meanwhile, Brantford police were unable to provide comment on the Dec. 3 incident before publication.
Harm reduction worker worries about stigma
McNally says she’s seen reports about officers being sent to hospital after exposure from police in the United States over the years, but was surprised to see them cropping up around Ontario this month.
She says misunderstandings about the real risks of contact with fentanyl can have dangerous outcomes for the people addicted to them.
“My concern here is with the misinformation about what is actually happening, and there are consequences to generating this kind of fear around this particular drug. It does mean that people will be more reticent to enter, to intervene in an overdose,” she said.
“And that can obviously lead to the death of that person.”
