| Abstract | Smudging activities are conducted in correctional facilities by inmates as part of a cultural ritual. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) Commissioner’s Directive (CD) 702: Aboriginal Offenders1 defines smudging as the act of burning traditional medicines (e.g. sweet grass, sage, cedar or tobacco) to pray and purify oneself or physical space. CSC Standing Order (SO) 259: Millhaven Institution- Accommodation of Spiritual Practices2 further indicates that various types of tobacco including commercial tobacco may be used in circumstance.
A smudge is smoke producing/smouldering of a smudge material. In the previous study conducted for the CSC in 20183 , the NRC (National Research Council Canada) tested three selected smudging materials to investigate how much smoke is generated from the smudging materials and how smoke detectors respond to the smudging. The previous study reported that the smudging sources produced large amounts of smoke although a limited amount of the smudging sources was burned using a small heat source (hot plate) in a test room. The level of smoke obscuration measured from the smudging sources was significantly higher than that resulted from the same amount of other smouldering sources (e.g. pieces of blanket, bed sheet and mattresses) tested in the room.
The CSC has requested a study to assess the effects of exposure to smudging smoke/effluents on human health. As an initial step, NRC conducted a literature review in collaboration with FireTox, LLC. to understand the types of effluents produced from smudging and their health hazards to inmates and correctional facility staff. A full report on the literature review is attached in Appendix A. The following sections provide a summary of the literature review report. |
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