Media Releases

University of Toronto Statement

September 2, 2014

Toron­to, ON — Over the past week­end, a Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to stu­dent post­ed a video of him­self pour­ing liq­uid nitro­gen over his head as part of the ALS ice buck­et chal­lenge.  The Uni­ver­si­ty wish­es to make clear that such activ­i­ty is extreme­ly dan­ger­ous.  Con­tact with liq­uid nitro­gen could cause severe burns and sig­nif­i­cant injury.  The Uni­ver­si­ty has in place clear pro­to­cols regard­ing the safe han­dling of haz­ardous mate­ri­als.  The activ­i­ty shown in the video is absolute­ly pro­hib­it­ed by those pro­to­cols.  We do not con­done the activ­i­ty shown in the video. We strong­ly encour­age best prac­tice and safe behav­iours while work­ing and study­ing at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to.

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U of T Media Rela­tions
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