Allergies/skin sensitivity to various wood shavings/dust.

B

Bill Gray

Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
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Over the years I haver used various woods (cedar, oak, black cherry) in building a canoe and furniture. Over the past 3 years I have built 2 1:60 Bluenose models. The wood supplied with these kits have been basswood but several months ago I started a 1:60 Bounty kit by Amati. Most of the word supplied is walnut. When working with the Bluenose kits I had no problems with skin sensitivity but when I started cutting and sanding the walnut of the Bounty kit I developed a skin rash. At first I thought I had developed an allergy to soap or synthetic fibres in clothing. I took the usual actions - changing soap, doing an extra rinses when washing clothes, eliminating my favourite food (chocolate!!). Nothing helped. I eventually applied non Rx cortisone cream which reduced to itch but I cannot use it in the log term. One reason I blame my rash on walnut dust is my rash is just on my hands, arms, and front of my thighs where dust did collect when I was seated. Researching online I found a number of sites about sensitivities to wood dust, walnut in particular. I have stopped working on the Bounty for a few days now and will see what happens with the rash. If there is no improvement I will be off to see the family physician. I am at the point where I am tapering the mast yard arms, etc.. I may just have to use another wood for these components. Sorry for taking up space but I thought someone else may have experienced the same problem.

Cheers, Bill
 
Hi Bill. Your post caught my attention. It’s also walnut for me, it’s the fine dust particles if I’ve used an electric sander, Dremel or small bench one. I too wondered what was causing my problems, redness around my face, sneezing and continues running nose, sometimes for days once it starts. I now use a mask if I’m sanding and regularly mist spray my room to bring down the dust, things improved but not perfect.
 
Bill Gray said:
Over the years I haver used various woods (cedar, oak, black cherry) in building a canoe and furniture. Over the past 3 years I have built 2 1:60 Bluenose models. The wood supplied with these kits have been basswood but several months ago I started a 1:60 Bounty kit by Amati. Most of the word supplied is walnut. When working with the Bluenose kits I had no problems with skin sensitivity but when I started cutting and sanding the walnut of the Bounty kit I developed a skin rash. At first I thought I had developed an allergy to soap or synthetic fibres in clothing. I took the usual actions - changing soap, doing an extra rinses when washing clothes, eliminating my favourite food (chocolate!!). Nothing helped. I eventually applied non Rx cortisone cream which reduced to itch but I cannot use it in the log term. One reason I blame my rash on walnut dust is my rash is just on my hands, arms, and front of my thighs where dust did collect when I was seated. Researching online I found a number of sites about sensitivities to wood dust, walnut in particular. I have stopped working on the Bounty for a few days now and will see what happens with the rash. If there is no improvement I will be off to see the family physician. I am at the point where I am tapering the mast yard arms, etc.. I may just have to use another wood for these components. Sorry for taking up space but I thought someone else may have experienced the same problem.

Cheers, Bill
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I also have skin problems, of a different kind. An important point that should be tested is the pollution of the wood with environmental toxins. It is known that even the smallest parts have an impact. Contrary to the advertising claims, the wood from the manufacturers is usually not of good quality and the place of origin is unknown.
 
I seem to be slightly sensitive to some kind of walnut (sneezing, running nose) but I am not using it very often so I just don't worry about it. I had the same experience with different (but not all) kinds of Costello (American Boxwood). And be VERY cautious with Ebony! It is much more harmful than any other wood so good ventilation is a must.
János
 
Bill Gray said:
Over the years I haver used various woods (cedar, oak, black cherry) in building a canoe and furniture. Over the past 3 years I have built 2 1:60 Bluenose models. The wood supplied with these kits have been basswood but several months ago I started a 1:60 Bounty kit by Amati. Most of the word supplied is walnut. When working with the Bluenose kits I had no problems with skin sensitivity but when I started cutting and sanding the walnut of the Bounty kit I developed a skin rash. At first I thought I had developed an allergy to soap or synthetic fibres in clothing. I took the usual actions - changing soap, doing an extra rinses when washing clothes, eliminating my favourite food (chocolate!!). Nothing helped. I eventually applied non Rx cortisone cream which reduced to itch but I cannot use it in the log term. One reason I blame my rash on walnut dust is my rash is just on my hands, arms, and front of my thighs where dust did collect when I was seated. Researching online I found a number of sites about sensitivities to wood dust, walnut in particular. I have stopped working on the Bounty for a few days now and will see what happens with the rash. If there is no improvement I will be off to see the family physician. I am at the point where I am tapering the mast yard arms, etc.. I may just have to use another wood for these components. Sorry for taking up space but I thought someone else may have experienced the same problem.

Cheers, Bill
Click to expand...

Hey Bill,
I also have worked with different types of wood since I was 12, specially with cedar and mahogany, but 6 years ago I developed an extreme allergy that derailed my histamine production to the max.
With so much allergy and runny nose, I developed polyps and therefore surgery came alone to remove them.
That left me for three years without any sense if smell.
Now I’m fine but I inject myself once a week with three different medications.
One of the main fact that cause the runny nose was “mahogany”.
 
The kits I've worked on have only used pretty non allergic woods, but I make wooden penny whistles from exotic hardwoods, and I can tell you that MANY of those hare pretty allergenic. Walnut is domestic here in the US, but it's also quite allergenic. I'm not sure how much a barrier cream will help, but you should definitely be wearing a good dust mask while you're sanding any of those woods. Protect your eyes too, and wash your hands when you leave the shop.
 
I've been a carpenter and woodworker all my life, and have had some allergic reactions to a number of US native woods at various times. The worst was to California Redwood, causing a form of "chemical pneumonia" they called it. Put me in the hospital for 4 days. Red Cedar has a similar, but less severe reaction. Walnut, Red Oak, even Birch will affect my lungs giving me a dry itch in the throat and a cough. Some Mahoganies (there's lots of different woods marketed as Mahoganies" affect me, some do not. Note that my lifetime exposure to wood dust was at a semi-industrial level.
After the "Redwood incident", I was much more careful about wearing dust masks, often wearing them all day, every day, for weeks at a time. When not wearing them for wood working, we wore them for masonry work when cutting brick or block, sanding drywall (in the old days drywall compound could be contaminated with asbestos) , even cutting asbestos sheets and installing asbestos siding on houses. Then there's the issue of vapors from solvents, exposure to lead, mercury, welding fumes, etc. that I won't even get in to here. It's a wonder I made it to 79 years of age.
Today I hear people complain about wearing a mask in regard to the covid thing and wonder if these people even know how many workers are required ( and have been for years) to wear them in the workplace, all day, every day.
I don't do much of that stuff any more, only jobs I'm interested in and if I feel like it.
But, when working with woods and solvents for model building I'm pretty careful. That is unless it's just a "this will only take a minute" thing that I sometimes regret later. One allergy I found building models is, when using CA glue on wood, I get a reaction to it, kinda like cold symptoms. I've noticed that when using it to glue some woods, especially balsa, a faint vapor rising from the applied glue. If I'm using CA on wood now, I have a small fan turned on to move the air and blow those fumes away from me.

To be safe, like Brewer states, wear a mask, wash your face and hands, wear an apron or something to keep the dust off your clothes and try to prevent tracking the dust and vapors all over the house.
 
jimmystratos said:
Barrier cream on your hands? Long trousers/apron? Facemask of some sort in case your sinuses and lungs are trying to develop a rash too?
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Thanks for the reply Jimmy. I have started to do the things you suggest. I even stopped my build for 10 days but no improvement. Still have the rash. Some online sites have indicated can take up to 4 weeks to resolve. In my case it has been 6 weeks but slightly improving. I was rethinking it again and if it is related to my build it might be the CA I have been using. I noted the other day that inspire of trying not to get CA on my hands I always end up with my index finger and thumb coated with it! Then I have caught myself rubbing my arms before the CA is removed from my hands. Maybe I am blaming the wrong material! Cheers from London Ontario
 
MM2CVS9 said:
I've been a carpenter and woodworker all my life, and have had some allergic reactions to a number of US native woods at various times. The worst was to California Redwood, causing a form of "chemical pneumonia" they called it. Put me in the hospital for 4 days. Red Cedar has a similar, but less severe reaction. Walnut, Red Oak, even Birch will affect my lungs giving me a dry itch in the throat and a cough. Some Mahoganies (there's lots of different woods marketed as Mahoganies" affect me, some do not. Note that my lifetime exposure to wood dust was at a semi-industrial level.
After the "Redwood incident", I was much more careful about wearing dust masks, often wearing them all day, every day, for weeks at a time. When not wearing them for wood working, we wore them for masonry work when cutting brick or block, sanding drywall (in the old days drywall compound could be contaminated with asbestos) , even cutting asbestos sheets and installing asbestos siding on houses. Then there's the issue of vapors from solvents, exposure to lead, mercury, welding fumes, etc. that I won't even get in to here. It's a wonder I made it to 79 years of age.
Today I hear people complain about wearing a mask in regard to the covid thing and wonder if these people even know how many workers are required ( and have been for years) to wear them in the workplace, all day, every day.
I don't do much of that stuff any more, only jobs I'm interested in and if I feel like it.
But, when working with woods and solvents for model building I'm pretty careful. That is unless it's just a "this will only take a minute" thing that I sometimes regret later. One allergy I found building models is, when using CA glue on wood, I get a reaction to it, kinda like cold symptoms. I've noticed that when using it to glue some woods, especially balsa, a faint vapor rising from the applied glue. If I'm using CA on wood now, I have a small fan turned on to move the air and blow those fumes away from me.

To be safe, like Brewer states, wear a mask, wash your face and hands, wear an apron or something to keep the dust off your clothes and try to prevent tracking the dust and vapors all over the house.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. As I stated in my response to Jimmy I am beginning to think something other than the walnut wood is the culprit. CA is a possibility. On the other hand my rash may not be related to my builds and it is time to seek a medical opinion.But chances are the "cure" RX'd will be a cortisone cream! As they say stay safe and have a great time building. Bill
 
Mash said:
I also have skin problems, of a different kind. An important point that should be tested is the pollution of the wood with environmental toxins. It is known that even the smallest parts have an impact. Contrary to the advertising claims, the wood from the manufacturers is usually not of good quality and the place of origin is unknown.
Click to expand...
Thanks Mash. A good point. Bill
 
Brewerpaul said:
The kits I've worked on have only used pretty non allergic woods, but I make wooden penny whistles from exotic hardwoods, and I can tell you that MANY of those hare pretty allergenic. Walnut is domestic here in the US, but it's also quite allergenic. I'm not sure how much a barrier cream will help, but you should definitely be wearing a good dust mask while you're sanding any of those woods. Protect your eyes too, and wash your hands when you leave the shop.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have started to wear protective clothing, washing hands, wearing a mask, etc. All the sanding I have been doing has been hand sanding with not much dust in the air, however, there must me some so I am now wearing a mask. My problem has seems to be one of a contact dermatitis type rash limited to my arms and upper thighs. Mainly arms. I n another post reply I noted that maybe I am blaming walnut dust when it might be a sensitivity to CA glue. At any rate I am trying to cover all the bases. Have a great day. Bill
 
Philski said:
For me, its Cocobolo and Rosewood. So, I wear nitrile gloves when I handle these.
Click to expand...
My skin rash is slowly subsiding since I am taking more precautions like wearing long sleeved shirts, using a mask, and wearing non-latex gloves. I have also considered my problem may have been contact of the CA glue with my hands - then touching my exposed arms if I am wearing short sleeved shirts (which until I had the rash was normal for me). Now I am covering up and more cautious about what materials come in contact with my body. Seems to be working. Fingers crossed!! Bill
 
Bill Grey
Allergies are like a climbing Ivy plant.
They start tiny and grow to engulfing proportions affecting the taste and the smell senses, and the worst is the polyps that the only way to remove them is by surgery or by an intense allergy shots system that take years to disappear.
First sign of them....go straight to your allergist and don’t wait like I did.
37860197-7FFD-49A8-9A1F-A8C41A5D248C.jpeg
 
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Hello
For my case the enemy is balsa dust , and after that ,dust in general.Running nose ,sneeze, cold flu symptoms
Having a mask is a little thing to do when is only a respiratory problem
Kind regards,Daniel
 
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