Am I the only one...

[darbytee]

Who has ever had a bad reaction to canarywood? I turned a small bowl this weekend with a blank I just bought last week. Rough turned on Saturday morning and finished and sanded it Sunday afternoon. I started feeling bad Sunday evening. As of right now I have blisters on my hands and feet (yes I was wearing shoes) and worst of all, in my mouth (yes I was wearing a dust mask). I've never had a bad reaction to wood dust before.

Maybe this is the excuse I've been looking for to get a Trend airshield and a full-body turning condom.

 

[wdcav1952]

Fred,

I guess I'm too dumb to be allergic to anything. I have handled poison ivy, poison oak, my ex-mother-in-law, and have never developed a rash.

BTW, we would all love a pix of you wearing the full-body turning condom!! [][}]

 

[TellicoTurning]

That's tough... I turned a set of tea lights from canarywood and no problems.. however, unlike WdCav.. I only have know that poison ivy exists and I'll break out.. I think I had about 5 cases over the summer trying to clear the back side of my lot.

 

[JDPens]

Fred,

My younger brother, Daniel, broke out in what appeared to be hives the day after we went to the FPP turn-a-thon. We didn't have a clue why, but it was obvious it was from turning a pen because the rash was all over the back of his hand, and up his forearm.

A week later, his skin on his hand is now sloughing off. Was blisters the only symtom you had? After reading your post, we think he must have reacted to the Canarywood because his last pen was of that wood.

What's everyone else's thoughts on this? (not to hijack your thread)

OBTW, He's also highly allergic to poison ivy, would this make a difference?

 

[carverken]

I do understand the poison ivy thing. I had it so bad the eyes swelled shut. Wood alergies are serious and can be a major health problem. A sensitivity can be developed over time. One time you work with a wood with no problem and the nextime you break out big time. Much the same as bee stings. Be alert for mild symptoms the first time you work with a wood. If you get them you will probably get worse next time.

 

[whatwoodido]

Is she your ex-mother-in-law because your ex-wife didn;t like you handling her mother?

Originally posted by wdcav1952
<br />Fred,

I guess I'm too dumb to be allergic to anything. I have handled poison ivy, poison oak, my ex-mother-in-law, and have never developed a rash.

BTW, we would all love a pix of you wearing the full-body turning condom!! [][}]

 

[whatwoodido]

Several doctors have confirmed what my doctor told me, first exposure to a new wood will not cause an allergic reaction, you have to be senistized to it first. I am not sure how long after first exposure it takes for the sensitizing to be complete. But if your brother was never exposed to Canarywood, before it was unlikely that he reacted to it. But in the case of a turn-a-thon, he was probably exposed to a wide variety of differ species of wood that were floating through the air in the for of dust from sanding.

I am mildly allergic to Leopard Wood, it took me a while (months) to identify the wood to which I was allegic because of the variety of woods I handle.

When I teach my penturing classes I will not use Leopard Wood (because I am allergic to it), Cocobolo, Chechen or Lacewood. As I have friends that all have had very bad reactions to these woods, and I can't be sure that my students have not been exposed to these woods. With a pen class this is very problematic, because penturners are often exposed once to a number of woods, as such a second contact can result in an allergic reaction.

Originally posted by JDPens
<br />Fred,

My younger brother, Daniel, broke out in what appeared to be hives the day after we went to the FPP turn-a-thon. We didn't have a clue why, but it was obvious it was from turning a pen because the rash was all over the back of his hand, and up his forearm.

A week later, his skin on his hand is now sloughing off. Was blisters the only symtom you had? After reading your post, we think he must have reacted to the Canarywood because his last pen was of that wood.

What's everyone else's thoughts on this? (not to hijack your thread)

OBTW, He's also highly allergic to poison ivy, would this make a difference?

 

[RussFairfield]

Welcome to "the club". There are two types of people - those who have wood allergies, and those who will have.

The dalbergias are usually the problem, but Canary can be a problem. Since Canary is a legume, you might also find that you are now also allergic to peas.

The toxins are accumulative, and when your tolerance level is reached, the reaction strikes without warning. Different people have different tolerance levels, but there is a good chance that even those who are now immune will have an allergic reaction if they live long enough and have sufficient exposure.

 

[PenWorks]

Geee Russ, thanks for the good news [V]
I thought I was in the dumb & lucky club with Cav []

 

[JimGo]

Originally posted by RussFairfield
<br />The toxins are accumulative, and when your tolerance level is reached, the reaction strikes without warning.

I wonder if there's a way to purge your system of the toxins.

 

[txbob]

I wonder if there's a way to purge your system of the toxins.

Maybe frequent application Jack Daniel's Black Label?

txbob

 

[Rojo22]

Do you apply the Jack Daniels as a topical solution, or as an internal form of medicine?

 

[chitswood]

I think I've been fairly lucky with wood allergies, I didn't even know they existed when I started working with the wood. I've handled hundreds of species and I still haven't found any I'm irritant to, though we think green rosewood sawdust causes Dad's eye problem.

The most painful sawdust comes from one of my favorite woods - Macassar Ebony.
If you get some of that in your eyes, its very similar to putting shards of glass covered in bleach in your eyes, this wood will also make your sinuses burn with a passion

 

[darbytee]

Interesting about the first exposure not causing an allergy. Before the bowl I hadn't turned any canarywood in probably two years, and then it was just a pen. Maybe it was a combination of woods that finally caught up to me.

I also teach penturning classes at Woodcraft, and the bowl-turning instructor told me yesterday that one of his students from Monday had a reaction to the canarywood they turned in class.

 

[alamocdc]

I ain't sayin' nothin'! I don't want to jinx myself![]

 

[woodwish]

I feel for ya, had the same reaction last year to cocobola and now have the problem with all woods from the rosewood family. I've tried gloves, long-sleeve shirts, etc. with no luck. The worst part is the feet, I guess sawdust gets in there and works through the socks. Bottoms of my feet were badly blistered, made it hard to even walk for a few weeks. Next time you contact it you may break out everywhere you have in the past even it those body parts don't make contact.

Without getting too graphic here, and based on the theory that everyone will become allergic eventually, be sure to thouroughly wash your hands with soap and hot water before going to the bathroom while turning. I have not made that mistake but another club member was turning rosewood (no previous reactions) and went to the little turner's room without washing first. Serious breakout in a place that you can't scratch in public, and was in great pain for several weeks. Made my sore feet story seem pretty tame! []

 

[bob393]

Great[V]