But the same machine that hockey fans defend so fiercely may be hazardous to
 their health. Last spring, researchers in Quebec City identified an ailment
 they called "Zamboni Syndrome". According to Dr. Benoit Levesque of Laval
 University, carbon monoxide levels rise dramatically in the blood od
 recreational hockey players, possibly causing heart attacks, respiratory
 problems and headaches.
 
 Levesque linked the problem to poorly maintained ice resurfacers running in
 tightly sealed, ill-ventilated arenas. Some arenas had carbon monoxide levels
 higher than those in garages where cars were allowed to run all day with the
 garage doors closed. Minnesota researchers also have studied the Zamboni
 Syndrome, prompted by a 1987 incident in which 135 players, cheerleaders, band
 members, and spectators fell ill at two high school hockey games.
 
 The culprit in that case was an improperly tuned Zamboni and a blocked
 ventilation system at Cook Ice Arena in Coon Rapids. Many of the persons who
 became ill sued the city after it was discovered that the arena did not test
 for toxic gases as required by state law.
 
 Levesque's study was performed after a 1987 incident in Quebec City, in which
 six people were taken to a hospital with nitrogen-dioxide poisoning caused by
 an ice resurfacer with an improperly adjusted carburetor.
 
 Hockey fans greeted the study with a collective yawn. Noxious fumes or not,
 the Zamboni has become a permanent part of the game. It's the machine that
 cartoonist Charles Schulz, a Minnesota native, features in the "Peanuts" comic
 strip, resurfacing the ice on Woodstock's bird bath or Snoopy's makeshift
 rink. It has been coveted by many a community and purchased with the proceeds
 from bake sales or car washes. And it earned Frank Zamboni the greatest honor
 of his life. A few months before his death, Zamboni who quit school in the
 ninth grade, was given an honorary doctorate in engineering from Clarkson
 University in Potsdam, New York.
 
 "We still get letters form parents of little guys," Richard Zamboni said. "The
 children especially seem to like it. They see the machine out there running,
 and they can't help but talk about it. It just seems to have that effect on
 people.
 (end of article)
 
 I hope some of you find this as interesting as I did.
 Carol White
 U of M
 GO Gophers!!!