Justin Mathews 
 
 A 33-year-old man with tree nut allergies has died in a rare case of anaphylaxis related to sandblasting with walnut shells at an Edmonton fire station that is under renovation. 
 
 On Oct. 2, David Mathews says his son, Justin Mathews, arrived at the Rossdale fire station construction site to conduct air quality testing, since another company had been in the station sandblasting old lead paint off the walls. 
 
 Justin was in the building for about 20 minutes before he had difficulty breathing, and collapsed outside. “He walked out of the building, he was trying to get air,” his father told Allergic Living. At the University of Alberta Hospital, doctors told Mathews and his wife that Justin had suffered cardiac arrest during a severe anaphylactic reaction from his walnut exposure. 
 
 The family suspects Justin inhaled a lot of walnut particles from the blasting, and Alberta Occupational Health and Safety investigators are now investigating. 
 
 Justin didn’t have an epinephrine auto-injector with him and neither did the first responders at Rossdale fire station. They performed CPR until the ambulance arrived and took the young man to the hospital. Doctors told the family that Justin wouldn’t recover because of brain damage; he was taken off life support on Oct. 7. 
 
 The family is speaking out about his tragedy to prevent this from happening to anybody else. They are calling for allergen warning labels and signage if items such as walnut shells are used in a workplace. “If he’d seen a sign or a warning, he wouldn’t have even gone in there,” says David Mathews. 
 
 Justin with his sisters. 
 
 Justin Mathews was the younger brother of three sisters in a close-knit family. He had had a nut allergy since he was a child. 
 
 According to Trent Bancarz, a spokesperson for Alberta’s department of labor, walnut shells are an alternative to using silica sand. “In sandblasting, silica gets very fine and can be breathed in. It’s known to cause problems such as silicosis, lung cancer and other respiratory ailments,” Bancarz says. 
 
 Walnut shells, coconut shells, corn cobs and – in some cases – baking soda are increasingly being used as natural alternatives in the industry. 
 
 “This product is touted as the environmentally friendly option,” says Justin’s father. “I’ve never heard of [walnut shells] being used until now,” he says. And he’s unsure if his son was aware of this either. 
 
 The grieving father says he looked at the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on the blasting product following the incident. While he saw mention of the walnut shell material, “they didn’t mention anything about allergens or allergies,” he says. “There should be warning labels.” 
 
 Mathews added: “It is too late for us, but we went to the news because at least the next person will be saved.” 

 EDMONTON — Justin Mathews had a lifelong nut allergy and was always careful, so his family is stunned that he died after visiting a work site where walnut shells were used to blast paint off walls. 
 
 The 33-year-old was doing air quality tests at the old Rossdale fire station in Edmonton on Oct. 2, when he started having trouble breathing and went into anaphylactic shock. He suffered brain damage after going into cardiac arrest and was taken off life support five days later. 
 
 “This whole story’s just insane,” his sister, Joyce Mathews-Goossen, said Monday. 
 
 “My brother was there to check the air quality and the air was poisonous to him.” 
 
 She said the family has more questions than answers about what happened, but hopes his death will prompt industry changes so no one else gets hurt. 
 
 Mathews had been a plumbing apprentice until he lost his job during Alberta’s economic downturn, his sister said. A close friend recently gave him a job with an environmental engineering company, ESP HiTech Inc. 
 
 He had already done some work at the fire hall, vacant since the ’90s and set to reopen next year. The walnut shells had been used to blast away old lead paint in the building earlier on Oct. 2, his sister said. A hopper containing the shells was still outside the building. 
 
 When Mathews-Goossen saw her brother at the hospital, his entire body was swollen. Also allergic to nuts, she was afraid to touch him in case he was contaminated. 
 
 “I still cannot believe he’s gone. He’s gone just like that,” said their mother Mabel Mathews. 
 
 She said her basketball-loving son still lived at home. He was kind and polite, made supper when his parents were running late and was super-cautious about his allergy. 
 
 “In 33 years, he ended up in the hospital once with eating some donair with some nuts.” 
 
 The family said it doesn’t know if Mathews or his employer were aware that walnut shells had been used at the fire hall, if he was wearing a mask or if any warning signs were posted. 
 
 They were told Advanced Remediation Solutions did the blasting work. When asked if a manager at the company was available for comment, a man who only gave his name as Dean said staff are co-operating with provincial investigators. 
 
 He said it’s not conclusive that walnut shells caused the death, since nut oils that cause allergic reactions are removed from shells during processing. And there have been no recorded allergic reactions to their decade-long use for blasting in North America. 
 
 “I don’t want to take anything away from the family, but the jury’s still out on this,” he said. 
 
 Trent Bancarz with Alberta Occupational Health and Safety said investigators do suspect the death was caused by a severe allergic reaction to walnut shells at the fire station, although it’s still early in the review. 
 
 “This is a very rare and unusual type of incident,” Bancarz said. “Certainly I’ve never come across this before.” 
 
 Silica used in sandblasting is known to cause health problems such as silicosis and lung cancer. The construction industry years ago moved to using substitutes such as walnut shells, coconut shells and corn cobs, he said. 

 An Edmonton man died of anaphylactic shock after being exposed to a walnut-based product being used for sandblasting in the same building where he was testing air quality. 
 
 On Oct. 2, David and Mabel Mathews received a call that their son, Justin Mathews, 33, had been taken to the University of Alberta Hospital. 
 
 When they arrived he was unresponsive, on a breathing machine and in a coma. 
 
 "The doctors said 80 per cent of the brain is not active at all," Mabel Mathews said. 
 
 Then came the tough decision to take him off life-support, as doctors had suggested. He died after being taken off a breathing machine five days later. 
 
 Walnut dust prompted an anaphylactic reaction, causing Mathews's throat to swell up and leaving him short of breath. 
 
 Justin's parents say he was inside the Rossdale fire station, which is being renovated, for close to 20 minutes while testing the air quality with a co-worker. He was unaware a product containing walnut shells was being used to sandblast walls in the building. When he started having trouble breathing, Mathews rushed outside. 
 
 "He went to the car outside and he couldn't breathe. He was leaning on the car and trying to catch [his] breath," his mother said. 
 
 Justin Mathews was taken off life-support on Oct. 7 after he suffered anaphylactic shock after inhaling a walnut shell-based product on a worksite. (Sam Martin/CBC) 
 
 He then collapsed and fell to the ground. Edmonton fire crews responded first, followed by an ambulance. 
 
 Mathew's parents say he didn't have an epinephrine autoinjector, which is used to treat anaphylaxis, at the time, and he wouldn't expect to have a reaction unless he was eating. He was very cautious when ordering food, they said. He would carry an EpiPen when travelling outside of Canada. 
 
 How is it OK that my brother walked into a jobsite where they were blasting it all over? - Shari Reklow 
 
 It's difficult for the Mathews to come to terms with the fact that their son, the youngest of four children, is gone. 
 
 "He was a very kind person. He loved children," his mother said. 
 
 "Very athletic. He used to play basketball. He's a tae kwon do guy. Very artistic. A pianist. 
 
 "I want to make sure that there is no other mom or dad or sisters lose their brother again," she said. 
 
 Calls for accountability 
 
 Shari Reklow wants accountability for her brother's death. She believes the use of walnut-based products should be regulated in a similar way to food and warnings issued. 
 
 "There is a flaw for sure, and I'm really sorry my brother had to pay the price. We're all paying the price now," Reklow said. 
 
 "It's not just a food. It's being used in commercial and industrial applications and that needs to be regulated. Right now, as far as I can see within WHMIS, it's not a controlled or regulated substance." 
 
 The family of Justin Mathews describe him as a fun, happy and outgoing guy. (Sam Martin/CBC) 
 
 Not only would she like to to see a warning on the product label, but also a warning on jobs sites for anyone who may come close to an area where the product may be airborne. 
 
 "You can find walnut shells in tires, in sandblasting," said Reklow. "It's in places you don't even think to look look for it. If you're not made properly aware, how can you protect yourself? How can you protect your family? 
 
 "How is it OK that my brother walked into a jobsite where they were blasting it all over? It makes no sense. 
 
 "It's taken very seriously as a food product. How many times do you see may contain nuts, or come into contact with nuts in the factory? How many times do you see that on the labels?" 
 
 She also questions why her brother wasn't treated with a epinephrine autoinjector when first responders arrived on scene shortly after he collapsed. 
 
 "First responders need to have Epipens with them because 10 minutes when you're in anaphylactic shock is too long. You can't wait that long. Your body will start shutting down and it will result in brain death," Reklow said. 
 
 Shari Reklow, sister of Justin Mathews, has a lot of unanswered questions about her brother's death. (Sam Martin/CBC) 
 
 Rare and uncommon 
 
 An Alberta Labour spokesperson confirmed the basic details of Justin Mathew's death on Monday. 
 
 "It certainly was a very unusual incident. I've certainly never experienced anything like this one. It's quite rare and uncommon," said Trent Bancarz. 
 
 "There isn't anything specifically in the health and safety code or any of the legislation that particularly mentions walnuts individually, but we do have laws in place in general that require employers to take all reasonable steps to keep workers safe at the job. And also workers are to be informed of any potential danger or potential hazards in the workplace so that they're forewarned and they can take the steps to avoid them." 
 
 Bancarz said walnut shell products are being used more often on worksites in Alberta as companies have been encouraged to reduce using silica-based products. 
 
 "Industry is looking at alternatives to sand or other silica based products because there are very well known hazards with using silica," Bancarz said. "During sandblasting operations, the silica can get very fine, and become what's called respirable, which means you can breathe it in and it gets onto your lungs and can cause things like silicosis, lung cancers and other respiratory ailments." 
 
 An Occupational Health and Safety investigation into Mathews's death is ongoing. It must be completed within two years of the incident. 
 
 Travis.mcewan@cbc.ca 
 
 @Travismcewancbc
– A Canadian man's nut allergy apparently proved fatal after he performed air quality tests at a building where walnut shells were being used to blast paint off the walls. On Oct. 2, Justin Mathews, 33, spent roughly 20 minutes inside an Edmonton fire station where a walnut-based sandblasting product was in use before complaining that he couldn't breathe, report the CBC and National Post. Mathews—who had always been very cautious about his allergy, according to his family—then went into anaphylactic shock and collapsed, his mom says. He was taken off life support five days after arriving at University of Alberta Hospital, where doctors determined he'd suffered damage to 80% of his brain, reports the National Post. Advanced Remediation Solutions, which performed the sandblasting, says nut oils are removed during processing of walnut-based products that have been used in sandblasting for a decade without causing allergic reactions. But to ensure others aren't injured or killed, Mathews' sister, Shari Reklow, says walnut-based products need to be regulated "in commercial and industrial applications" just as in food. In addition to warnings on product labels, she wants posted warnings about the products at job sites. "How is it OK that my brother walked into a job site where they were blasting it all over?" Reklow says. "If he'd seen a sign or a warning, he wouldn't have even gone in there," Mathews' dad adds, per Allergic Living.