Dust Allergies

[keithkarl2007]

Anyone ever have a really bad reaction to a certain wood dust? I spent 4 hours in hospital Friday night with a terrible rash all over my stomach, my arms legs and shoulders. The area around the groin was much worse. I had huge blisters all over and they were on fire. I had been working with Iroko in work Friday morning and by 11am I had a terrible itch down my legs and around the groin area. As the day passed it got much worse.
I googled Iroko Dust Allergies and seen photo's of someone with the exact same rash who had also been working with Iroko. I know some woods can cause severe allergies and can be quite harmful especially spalted woods. Has anyone else had a very bad experience such as this? I was thinking of getting the Jet microclene air filter for my workshop. Anyone have any advice on these? I purchased a great respirator from Chief Hill and find it great but on some turnings I don't wish to wear it.

 

[jskeen]

ok, you are now officially sensitized to wood dust. Bummage dude. Almost all wood dust has the potential to cause an allergic reaction. Most woods never effect most people. Some woods effect most people EVENTUALLY. There are a few woods that effect almost everybody, some immediately, some after a while. You are one of the unlucky few that managed to find that combination of wood and person that reacted severely, almost immediately. And here's the worst part. Now that you have done that, you will find that woods that never caused you the slightest problems in the past will really tear you up now. You will probably find new ones that you will react to the very first time too. Also remember, if your skin reacts to it on the outside, your lungs will be much worse on the inside. We're talking, Like Terminally. Not trying to scare you..... well ok, I am. Sorry but it's the truth. Not for sure, not every body, but for some, Anaphylactic reaction to things that they have been sensitized to are FATAL.

You really need to talk to a Dr or even better a specialist in allergic reactions to get some ideas of what might happen, what to do about it, and how to avoid it. At the very least you are probably going to have to seriously reevaluate how you work with wood, how you prepare to do so, and what you do afterward.

I personally know one person who had to totally give up woodworking after an event like you describe. I know a couple more who now have to act like they are going into a level 3 biohazard area to feed their addiction. Again, sorry.

Now agreed, that is pretty much a worst case scenario, and you might not have that much more trouble with it if you stay away from that particular wood. But better safe than sorry.

 

[DurocShark]

Yikes! Sorry to hear that, but why you're sticking your groin area into the dust.... :wink:

Seriously, I've seen people who just touch some woods break out in rashes or hives almost immediately all over their bodies. I've been lucky so far in that I haven't gotten more than a sneeze out of the stuff I've worked with.

Do you have dust collection in your shop? You won't need to go crazy with the filtration if you place your DC so it's exhausting outside. That will be your best bet. I've been considering building a cabinet in the corner of my garage to put the DC in with a few big vents to the outside. It'll suck the stuff out of my shop and send it outdoors. Plus it'll be quieter! I'm worried I'll sensitize to the stuff I work with, and would rather remove the problem than get a surprise rash at some point.

Just some thoughts...

 

[Fred]

Proper dust removal is a must. The best place is to collect as much as possible right at the tip of the cutting tool. A pain to do ... not really IF you have the right setup up.

I use a Loc-Line fixture connected to my Rigid vacuum and place the flexible collection hose right at the tip of whatever tool I am using ... instant removal of 90% of the cuttings. I change position, I change the hose position ... simple to do! What is missed is collected by the 4" hose from the DC.

I know all it takes is that 10% the vacuum misses which is usually the big stuff, but at least I am not getting ALL of it on my person and no dust down into my lungs. (Try blowing your nose immediately after a lengthly session and then look at the wood dust on the napkin. IF you have any you are not properly collecting your dust! ... but your lungs are!!!))

People usually learn the hard and painful way about dust collection ... not to mention the medical cost and detrement to their health. My foremost rule in my shop ... TURN ON THE DC SYSTEMS and THEN turn on the equipment. 1000% of the time!

 

[keithkarl2007]

They have a huge chip and dust collector where I work but nothing for really fine dust. I would say its probably the 3rd time I have used Iroko. Never had any problems with wood dust until Friday, I'm assuming its the dust that caused the rash.

 

[bitshird]

Keith a lot of woods are classed as sensitizers, meaning they probably won''t bother you at first but they build up and then suddenly Whamm they get you, , I've only had one bad experience and that was with Cocobolo. not on my skin, but breathed the fine dust, I won't do that again!!! and you should wear britches when working around wood, unless of course it a pen turning at a naturalist camp,

 

[keithkarl2007]

Yikes! Sorry to hear that, but why you're sticking your groin area into the dust.... :wink:

Seriously, I've seen people who just touch some woods break out in rashes or hives almost immediately all over their bodies. I've been lucky so far in that I haven't gotten more than a sneeze out of the stuff I've worked with.

Do you have dust collection in your shop? You won't need to go crazy with the filtration if you place your DC so it's exhausting outside. That will be your best bet. I've been considering building a cabinet in the corner of my garage to put the DC in with a few big vents to the outside. It'll suck the stuff out of my shop and send it outdoors. Plus it'll be quieter! I'm worried I'll sensitize to the stuff I work with, and would rather remove the problem than get a surprise rash at some point.

Just some thoughts...

Ok so its where the rash also broke out :biggrin::biggrin: but it was the area that I noticed first. I got very itchy and didn't know what was wrong. I had fixed a chair the evening before and got a little bit of Gorilla glue on the leg of my work trousers. My first thoughts were the wood dust and then I thought it could have been the glue penetrating through my trousers.