VANCOUVER — Canisters of nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, sold under the guise of whip cream chargers are increasingly showing up at Metro Vancouver waste facilities, and they’re causing dangerous explosions.

The regional district says it wants people to safely dispose of the canisters, which were recently flagged for recall by Health Canada because the gas is being used as a drug.

Paul Henderson, Metro Vancouver’s general manager of solid waste services, says the containers, some as large as three litres, have become a problem in the last few months, especially at Metro Vancouver’s waste-to-energy facility in Burnaby.

He said the high-pressure canisters are being tossed in with the regular garbage stream, which “creates a risk to workers.”

“We’re seeing damage to the equipme

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