Toxic wood

I'm of the feeling that just because a peice of wood from half way around the world there is no reason for it to be any more 'toxic' than something from your back yard. Or should I rephrase that to say 'something from your back yard may not be any less toxic than..."

I have a mild-severe reaction to Walnut bark from greenwood. Dust raised when sanding, or maybe just cutting Spalted wood carries lots of Fungus. What I'm trying to say is to be carefull with all woods and the byproduct of turning.

mike

Don't be surprised if it isn't jatoba, it's used a fait bit for pallets. Turns real nice but watch the end grain, it rips out real easy.

With luck it's teak - certainly not impossible as that too is used for pallets sometimes (go figure eh...). A couple of years ago I scored 100 feet of teak in perfectly straight 2X4's at some pallet place. Wish I had the tools and skills to do something with it though...

One nice thing about pallet wood is that it's usually dryer than a bone so you won't have to worry about cracking and splitting. Quite a common pallet wood is beech, lovely stuff that turns baby smooth :)

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"Stephen" wrote in news:UZqec.85174$Ig.69340@pd7tw2no:

Can't really provide any more info than to cite a couple of web sites dealing with toxicity and wood..maybe you already know about them as they have been passed around around numerous newsgroups?

Google this group on eg. toxic wood, bad wood, or google the web, you'll find plenty.

Seems the consensus is that all woods are carginogenic in fine particles, while some cause allergies, dermatitis etc.

So take care; cover up, use face masks, get some exhaust happening in your workshop.

Downer huh! :(

I had a BAD reaction to Rosewood when I put a piece of that on my lathe. Where ever there was a shaving, I had a reaction on my skin. Unfortunately, this didn't show up until that night \ next day, so I went merrily along my way with shavings all over my neck, arms, chest (shavings went down my shirt). I looked it up on that toxicity web page and I see it is one of the most potent and common reactions, so at least I felt like it wasn't too abnormal. It was so bad though, I had to get the steroids and everything to get it under control. Of course, I wasn't finished with the piece, so I had to figure out something. I bundled up completely and used rubber gloves and duct tape my wrist areas (between gloves and sweat shirt) and put a mask and covered over my face, neck and head. It worked to some extent, but I ended up get a nice rash on my temple area ... it happened when I would reach up and take off my safety glasses (had dust on my finger tips).

With that said - I learned that I can't work with Rosewood. I also like to use long sleeves when I turn things just so I don't get a lot of shavings on my arms where it is really exposed. Paranoid maybe ... but once bitten, twice shy.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 12:08:40 -0700, "Darren" hurled these words of wisdom into the ether:

Was it an actual rosewood (dalbergia sp.) or one of the ersatz rosewoods, like "Bolivian Rosewood" aka morado? The dalbergias don't give me any problems...nor do any other woods...except for that stinking Bolivian. That stuff made me break out exactly the same way you appear to have. And to add insult to injury, the same areas that were broken out before have become hyper-sensitized to heat/humidity, so that when I come out of the shower, it looks like I was exposed all over again, and my last exposure was many months ago.

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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 14:51:22 -0500, "Kevin" hurled these words of wisdom into the ether:

I've never used a barrier cream for it, but if you're reaction isn't severe, it might be worth a try. It's just easier for me to avoid it, because there are so many other woods I >can< turn with no problem.

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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

Try IvyBlock. You can get it at Walgreens and probably most other drug stores.

Bill

I don't know what kind of rosewood it was. I now stay away from it all together. I am a tad paranoid now too when doing more exotic woods.

I know exactly what you are talking about in regard to the "rash" coming back when I sweat or in the shower. It was like that way for months after the rash, but now I don't think it happens any more (haven't noticed it any ways).

To prevent this, I don't know if I would trust "barrier cream". Any little spec that hit my skin seemed to irritate it. I "might" turn rosewood in the future if I had a moon suit on ... even then, I would be hestitant because the dust \ shavings would still be in my shop.

Darren

I'm not sure I'd be as worried about the rash, Darren, as the possibility of inhaling enough of the dust to go into anaphylaxis. You are obviously extremely hypersensitive to the stuff.

Max

On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 21:54:08 GMT, "Maxprop" hurled these words of wisdom into the ether:

Topical irritation isn't indicative of a systemic reaction to an allergen, which is what anaphylaxis is. I have a pretty severe skin reaction to morado (the aforementioned "bolivian rosewood") but it causes no other allergic reactions whatsoever, and I am an asthmatic. AAMOF, the only thing I've ever turned that gave me any breathing difficulties was some bone-dry birch, which actually just made my throat sore.

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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

See

on Bad woodsfor some data on species' toxicity. Cheers,

Ern

It's been a while since professional school, but I seem to recall that skin sensitivity testing is predictive of the potential for systemic hypersensitivity. Your experience, while encouraging, may not be conclusive. I'd use caution around those substances to which you react.

Max

Confusion between dermatitis and anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is normally a reaction to a _protein_, whereas the dermatitis, and inhalation asthma or pulmonary edema, is a reaction to the chemical irritants. Not to minimize the danger of inhalation asthma or edema, had a run this morning with pulmonary edema from inhalation of bleach fumes which would certainly have been fatal had oxygen and inhalation therapy been delayed another fifteen minutes.

There is some truth to skin reaction to breathing reaction.

When you go in to find out allergies (cat, dog, trees, molds etc), they put a "solution" on your arm. If it reacts (rash) then they know you are allergic to it.

I am going to turn some Teak now - hopefully that will be ok for me. Never done it before. Looking at wood toxicity

it looks like it has minimalreaction. As for the dust - I always wear a mask any more when doing lathe work. Non allergic dust can be a problem if you get too much of it ... especially since I don't have a dust collector system.

Darren

They place them _under_ the skin.

This is true and probably the source of confusion by both myself and others. The droplets of potentially allergenic substances are placed on the skin, then injected into the sub-q tissue with a lance or needle.

Are you a physician, George?

Max

Nope, medic. Probably see more anaphylaxis than the average physician.