Allergic Reaction to Cocobolo

Hmmmm. I would have figured drywall dust was fairly inert. I guess you can be allergic to most anything.

I agree with you about the dust and sweat intensifying the problem. The areas I had problems with were the insides of my elbows where when you bend your arm at the elbow, skin meets skin with sweat and whatever dust trapped in between. I didn't have a reaction anywhere else, except under my wristwatch, another area with dust and sweat trapped against the skin. That gives me a degree of comfort............and hope......... that maybe I'm not terribly allergic to this stuff.

I have done some research on woods that have been known to cause reactions.........the list consists of most every wood that I have ever turned!

I may get brave enough to try cocobolo again some day, but probably not without long sleeves, a mask and dust collection. (I only had on a favorite old T-shirt and jeans........and a dust mask) I had plenty of other skin that was exposed and unprotected. But, I only had a reaction where there was sweat and dust trapped against the skin.

I had a very minor reaction once after just emptying the shop vac which contained some cocobolo dust. I did not take a prompt shower afterward. Thanks for responding.

Barry

indeed! It was 6 weeks after my bad reaction to Cocobolo that I needed to empty the DC bag, and it hit me all over again. Given the problems of being sure you collect ALL the dust, and getting it out, I have simply kept my one VERY nice Cocobolo project to remind me not to try again. Fortunately, there are many lovely woods which don't bother me...I 'can' even turn Silky Oak if I have to....but the oily sorts of Rosewood are bad news.

Fire code drywall has fiberglass embedded in the gypsum, maybe you reacted to that.

Junior

How's the old vaudeville routine go?

"Hey doc, it hurts whenever I do this. What do you recommend?"

"Don't do that."

Here's my take. Your trouble was a reaction to the water - soluble portion of the extractives in the wood. Urticaria ("hives") are not just histamine reactions, they can be as simple as what many call heat rash

The full histaminereaction is the one that causes full-body urticaria, swelling of bronchialpassages, and possible death. You can get these after one exposure, or aperiod of sensitization, so you've had a warning. There are other paths -ingestion, inhalation - which provide an opportunity for really rapidreactions, so "don't do that."I would expect the drywaller had a reaction to some poorly slaked limecontained in the gypsum board - more a burn than a reaction.

So did the Stones.

Coasters did it earlier with Motown sound.

Coasters were pre Motown.

Motown dates from 1957. They recorded Poison Ivy in 1959.

Geez, Ray, I've heard of people dying of peanuts, too, but I think I'll take my chances! A more reasonable idea might be, "If you've experienced strong reactions to any woods, or are generally prone to allergies, you might want to take extra care when exposing yourself to woods that are notoriously reaction-inducing, like silky oak, or the dalbergia familiy." Seems a little less overcautious. Particularly to those who have no allergies at all.

-- Chuck *#:^) chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply. <

September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

You could try TYVEK jump suits with masking ....

e.g. treat it like a threat you have to face.

Martin