Allergies and wood species

Lars Stole wrote:

> I am an allergy and asthma sufferer who has been woodworking for about
> a year now. Poor choice of hobbies I know, but now that I am hooked
> there is little that I can do about it.
>
> I have spent considerable effort putting in dust collection and I
> usually wear a high-quality dust mask when doing any work that kicks up
> sawdust. That said, inevitably some amount of material ends up
> getting through and causing some irritation for me. I find that red
> oak is somewhat worse than mahogany or cherry, but nothing I have
> experienced to date is as bad as MDF. I plan to eventually build some
> wine racking and I understand that redwood generates even worse (i.e.,
> more toxic) forms of dust than MDF, so I will probably go with mahogany.
>
> Here's the general question: what are your experiences with different
> wood species and the amount of irritation their dust cause? Is their a
> web site that has this sort of information? (I seem to recall a few
> months ago that someone was having problems with an exotic wood and was
> directed to a website to check on its degree of toxicity.)
>
> Lars

Hi Lars,

If the reaction you have is only respiratory you may want to consider one of
the positive pressure air masks such as the 3M AirMate:

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/html/Subcategories/airmate.htm

For wood toxicity listings see:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=wood+toxicity+table

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

"Lars Stole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:2004123017470775249%larsstole@gsbuchicagoedu...
> I am an allergy and asthma sufferer who has been woodworking for about
> a year now. Poor choice of hobbies I know, but now that I am hooked
> there is little that I can do about it.
>
> I have spent considerable effort putting in dust collection and I
> usually wear a high-quality dust mask when doing any work that kicks up
> sawdust. That said, inevitably some amount of material ends up
> getting through and causing some irritation for me. I find that red
> oak is somewhat worse than mahogany or cherry, but nothing I have
> experienced to date is as bad as MDF. I plan to eventually build some
> wine racking and I understand that redwood generates even worse (i.e.,
> more toxic) forms of dust than MDF, so I will probably go with mahogany.
>
> Here's the general question: what are your experiences with different
> wood species and the amount of irritation their dust cause? Is their a
> web site that has this sort of information? (I seem to recall a few
> months ago that someone was having problems with an exotic wood and was
> directed to a website to check on its degree of toxicity.)
>
> Lars
>

There's dust as an irritant and oils or other extractives as
sensitizers/allergens, so your strategy has to be control of _both_ when
generating dust, and the second after the dust settles. That means filtered
and charcoal if you want one mask to do all.

Only you know your circumstances, though the toxic wood articles (everything
is toxic according to a lawyer) can be a guide as to when you might be able
to go dust control only and cut down on the weight. Generally speaking,
rain forest stuff has evolved more efficient insecticide/fungicides than
temperate forest stuff, because it's vulnerable almost year-round.

Thu, Dec 30, 2004, 5:47pm (EST-1) [email protected]
(Lars=A0Stole)
I am an allergy <snip> I usually wear a high-quality dust mask <snip> Is
their a web site that has this sort of information? <snip>

Define "usually".

Define "high-quality dust mask".

Two minutes on google should give all the sites you need.



JOAT
People without "things" are just intelligent animals.

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 04:50:35 GMT, Dwight <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Check out Dustfoe 88 from MSA - a simple and very good mask designed in
>Pittsburgh for coal miners years ago - about $25 with five filters - I
>think I used one filter for five years!
>
>Have used one for thirty years. I use them for every cut in the shop and
>I often forget to take mine off, since they are so comfortable.
>
>I buy them and pass on to all my friends. Every family should have a
>good dust mask - even if only for sweeping out a garage.
>
>Sadly, the public is so inured to crumby masks that they dont even want
>good ones, but if you find a distributor, you can get one in a week.
>
>Best
>
Second the Dustfoe. I've got one for use when power carving,
especially nasties like Tauga nuts.

It's a good design, inexpensive (relatively) and effective. It isn't
for mists or vapors, but that's not a problem for me.

--RC
>
>
>
>Lars Stole wrote:
>> I am an allergy and asthma sufferer who has been woodworking for about a
>> year now. Poor choice of hobbies I know, but now that I am hooked
>> there is little that I can do about it.
>>
>> I have spent considerable effort putting in dust collection and I
>> usually wear a high-quality dust mask when doing any work that kicks up
>> sawdust. That said, inevitably some amount of material ends up
>> getting through and causing some irritation for me. I find that red oak
>> is somewhat worse than mahogany or cherry, but nothing I have
>> experienced to date is as bad as MDF. I plan to eventually build some
>> wine racking and I understand that redwood generates even worse (i.e.,
>> more toxic) forms of dust than MDF, so I will probably go with mahogany.
>>
>> Here's the general question: what are your experiences with different
>> wood species and the amount of irritation their dust cause? Is their a
>> web site that has this sort of information? (I seem to recall a few
>> months ago that someone was having problems with an exotic wood and was
>> directed to a website to check on its degree of toxicity.)
>>
>> Lars
>>

"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.

Dust collection:
http://billpentz.com//woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

Wood safety and toxicity:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/woodindx.htm
http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/roche/rec.wood.misc/wood.toxic

There are many more if you Google...

JeffB

Check out Dustfoe 88 from MSA - a simple and very good mask designed in
Pittsburgh for coal miners years ago - about $25 with five filters - I
think I used one filter for five years!

Have used one for thirty years. I use them for every cut in the shop and
I often forget to take mine off, since they are so comfortable.

I buy them and pass on to all my friends. Every family should have a
good dust mask - even if only for sweeping out a garage.

Sadly, the public is so inured to crumby masks that they dont even want
good ones, but if you find a distributor, you can get one in a week.

Best




Lars Stole wrote:
> I am an allergy and asthma sufferer who has been woodworking for about a
> year now. Poor choice of hobbies I know, but now that I am hooked
> there is little that I can do about it.
>
> I have spent considerable effort putting in dust collection and I
> usually wear a high-quality dust mask when doing any work that kicks up
> sawdust. That said, inevitably some amount of material ends up
> getting through and causing some irritation for me. I find that red oak
> is somewhat worse than mahogany or cherry, but nothing I have
> experienced to date is as bad as MDF. I plan to eventually build some
> wine racking and I understand that redwood generates even worse (i.e.,
> more toxic) forms of dust than MDF, so I will probably go with mahogany.
>
> Here's the general question: what are your experiences with different
> wood species and the amount of irritation their dust cause? Is their a
> web site that has this sort of information? (I seem to recall a few
> months ago that someone was having problems with an exotic wood and was
> directed to a website to check on its degree of toxicity.)
>
> Lars
>