Toxicity?

[punkinn]

I was reading up on the Dalbergia family of woods and found something that said sawdust from Cocobolo was toxic and you need to wear a mask if you're sanding it... is that true? I've never turned Cocobolo before (hoping to remedy that one of these days), so I thought I'd best ask.

If it is, (or if it isn't, for that matter!) are there any woods that ARE toxic that we should wear masks when turning/sanding?

Thank you!
Nancy

 

[its_virgil]

I've heard it said that lots of people are allergic to cocobolo and the ones who aren't now will be at some point. I've heard stories of various degrees of allergic reations to cocoblo and other woods also. I think cocobolo and the other oily rosewoods are the ones that give most of the alleric reations. I always pay close attention to how I feel when I turn a new wood for the first time or two.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by punkinn
<br />I was reading up on the Dalbergia family of woods and found something that said sawdust from Cocobolo was toxic and you need to wear a mask if you're sanding it... is that true? I've never turned Cocobolo before (hoping to remedy that one of these days), so I thought I'd best ask.

If it is, (or if it isn't, for that matter!) are there any woods that ARE toxic that we should wear masks when turning/sanding?

Thank you! []
Nancy

 

[Dario]

Allergic reaction varies...but these links may help you a bit:

http://old.mendelu.cz/~horacek/toxic.htm
http://www.city-net.com/albertfp/toxic.htm
http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Nancy, You should wear a mask for EVERY wood when you are turning and sanding.

This is what I wear whenever I'm working with wood.

Don said

I've heard it said that lots of people are allergic to cocobolo and the ones who aren't now will be at some point.

Don is 100% right, but you never know what wood might effect you. Surprisingly, I hae more problems with maple than with cocobolo, at least for now.

 

[ilikewood]

As was stated, Cocobolo and most rosewood family woods have a toxic effect on some people. It is always best to used a mask or dust collector (DC) when using these woods. It will prevent you from learning the hard way that you are allergic or have some sort of reaction to these woods. I am allergic to most everything EXCEPT Cocobolo (weird eh?)

A dust mask or DC is not only the only thing you should wear...also keep your skin covered as well. Skin reactions can be just as bad as lung reactions.

One other wood to be very wary of...Chechen (aka Poisonwood to the locals). The toxin is only carried in the layer right under the bark, but for those who are sensitive to poison ivy or poisin oak this wood is one to really watch out for (speaking from experience).[:I]

 

[punkinn]

Ron and William:

Thanks for the information. Ron, do you really wear the hood and respirator? Wow...

We have a &lt;ahem&gt; rather extensive &lt;understatement&gt; Oneida dust collecting system in the workshop for &lt;counts on fingers and toes&gt; every single tool BUT the lathe. I'm not sure why the lathe was left out, really. But dang, I love the smell of the wood...

I could *definitely* see that respirator in use if I were doing a CA finish though... I can't STAND the smell of that stuff. [xx(]

Nancy

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Originally posted by punkinn
<br />We have a &lt;ahem&gt; rather extensive &lt;understatement&gt; Oneida dust collecting system

Me Too!
I still need to wear a respirator.

 

[ed4copies]

It took me about 6 months before I started reacting to cocobolo. Now, because of Ron's posts about the respirator, I bought one. YES, it is fairly comfortable and, surprisingly, I do use it for MANY woods.

Listen to Ron, he's a smart guy (usually).

 

[punkinn]

Originally posted by ed4copies
<br />It took me about 6 months before I started reacting to cocobolo. Now, because of Ron's posts about the respirator, I bought one. YES, it is fairly comfortable and, surprisingly, I do use it for MANY woods.

Listen to Ron, he's a smart guy (usually).

Thank you Ed (and Ron)! I'll look into one. Better [] than [xx(]. lol

Nancy

 

[woodwish]

I never used to have any problems until last summer and then had a severe skin rash from Cocobola and Rosewood, looked like I rolled in Poison Ivy. Six months later I still can not war a watch or bracelet, and sometimes even long-sleeve shirts bother me. I threw away my trusty old turning shoes after that since they were always full of sawdust and I knew I would break out again. Even though I thuroughly washed all my cloths several times since then if I wear a pair of socks that I wore in the shop on a Cocobola turning day the bottoms of my feet will blister up and become almost too sore to walk on.

Strangley enough I never have respitory problems, but I do have a good DC and always wear a mask.

 

[johnson]

Be very careful turning teak. According to my wood toxicity book, one of the reactions to teak is swelling of the scrotum. I wonder how long it took to make that connection. I wear a Racal which is very similar to the Triton except 5 times as expensive when sold to a government contractor. The hard hat feature is nice when things depart the lathe at a high speed. Gotta love getting laid off and having them tell you to take all your personal protective gear since they don't re-issue the stuff to a different person.
Dale

 

[ldimick]

here's a reference link for what it's worth. May have been posted here before.

http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/roche/rec.wood.misc/wood.toxic

 

[JimGo]

Nancy, do a search of the archived threads for this topic. I think it was either BigRob777 or JByrd24 about 7 months ago or so in which he discussed his Cocobolo rash and how long it took him to get over it.

 

[jbyrd24]

From past experience I'd wear a mask and long sleeves. No actually I'd better just stay away from it................I can attest that some people are highly allergic to that family of woods.[]

 

[RussFairfield]

If in doubt, you can test your reaction to a wood by putting a small shaving under a bandaid on the soft skin on the underside of your arm. What you find under the bandaid after a couple days will tell you everything you need to know about whether or not you have an allergy to the wood.

 

[woodwish]

Russ, very good tip. I have some other exotic woods that I have afraid to turn since my cocobola rash so this may be a good way to check them out one at a time.

 

[elody21]

Exotic woods are not the only ones to be careful of. There are some domestic woods that cause reactions if you cut them into pen blanks while the wood is wet or turn them wet for bowls etc.... This spring I cut and processed wood from 10 freshly dug out lilac bushes. I broke out in a very terrible rash and still have dicoloration on my neck where it was. I also had a problem with freshly cut pin oak. I am working on some very green ash now and so far no reaction! I try to be careful of any green wood, making sure to change my clothes and wash well.AC

 

[BigRob777]

Nancy,
I haven't read all of this posted here, but I did want to say that if you have changed your mind about turning cocobolo, I can substitute something else for your order. I am still down from my trip and have a cold on top of that, so I haven't packed up your order yet.

Again, this may have been said already, but most if not all rosewoods are sensitizers, which means that they get worse, upon subsequent exposures to the toxin in question. I have had problems with woods in the past, and may be paying for it now, by not wearing a respirator, when I sanded a rosewood pen last week. I was breaking out really badly on my hands, but I started washing exposed skin after working with potentially dangerous woods. Now, I only get an occasional single bump, where I missed washing. I was covered with a poison ivy-like rash for a solid month, and more. I would wear a dust mask at least, if I could handle something on my face (which I can't-it drives me nuts). My beard would allow dust in through the mask anyway.

I have been working with all of the woods that are on the sensitizer list, except for the original "offender" Bolivian Rosewood. It's other name is morado, as it is not a dalbergia. I have turned a lot of Bois de Rose before Christmas and have had only one or two bumps from it. After I washed, they disappeared. I am hyper-alergic, or at least I was, until I was so heavily exposed to it. Even when I pick up blanks to pack for selling, I rinse my hands afterwards. There are times when I forget and those are probably the times when I get the single bumps.

So to make a long story short, I don't have a problem with the rashes anymore. I do need to start wearing a dust mask when I sand the sensitizer-containing woods though.
Rob

 

[punkinn]

Hey Rob,

No, I still want to try some nice Cocobolo and other rosewoods. I turned a Brazilian Rosewood this weekend and didn't have any issues with it at all... other than it was too dark for what I'd hoped it was going to look like, but it was a blank from a set of "exotics" so you take what you get in those. But no allergic reactions of any kind.

I'm looking forward to your package, but you feel better first. Must take care of oneself before seeing to other things. []

Take Care,
Nancy