A Canada Border Services Agency employee working in the FedEx building at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport was exposed to a white powder last Monday morning. The employee somehow got the powder in the eyes and was sent to a hospital for evaluation and treatment after Ottawa Fire Services responded to the incident.

The HAZMAT team moved other workers to a safe part of the facility on Thad Johnson Private while examining the area and conducting tests on the powder. They performed their duties quickly and efficiently, and Ottawa Fire Services Public Information Officer Marc Messier was soon able to announce that the powder was harmless and the crew was clearing the scene.

A FedEx spokesperson later said that the powder was a bodybuilding supplement.

Caution in such cases has been the rule since the 2001 anthrax attacks in America, in which five people died when letters containing anthrax spores in the form of a white powder were mailed to senators and media offices.