Science / Medicine : Danger in the Hockey Arena

Ice hockey players and their fans may face a danger much greater than the agony of defeat--noxious gas from ice-resurfacing machines. A government study released last week indicates they may be at high risk of suffering respiratory illnesses caused by faulty ice-resurfacing machines emitting unsafe levels of nitrogen dioxide.

“It is possible that the problem of nitrogen dioxide exposure in indoor ice arenas may be more common than is recognized currently,” Dr. Katrina Hedberg and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control reported in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

The researchers investigated an outbreak of respiratory illness among players, cheerleaders and band members at two high school hockey games at an indoor arena outside St. Paul, Minn., in February, 1987. They identified 116 persons who, within 48 hours of attending the hockey games, developed symptoms including coughs, difficulty breathing and weakness.

A simulation of conditions during the games found nitrogen dioxide level of 4 parts per million, eight times higher than the recommended limit, the researchers said. The gas apparently came from the arena’s ice-resurfacing machine, known as a Zamboni, which was found to be malfunctioning.