Replies

1. 
   trackersoft | Apr 16, 2009 07:22pm | #1

   I had not worked much with it but did some really large country french cabriole legs out of poplar (that were going to be painted) and I had a reaction. Very strange as it is the first wood reaction that I have had.

   Scott

1. 
   davidmeiland | Apr 16, 2009 07:23pm | #2

   What was the reaction like, if you don't mind?

1. 
   trackersoft | Apr 16, 2009 07:38pm | #3

   Itchy skin and sping like nasal allergy. Like ants crawling on my skin. I had ALOT of bandsaw and handwork on the legs. I also did the aprons for the table and that was not a problem.

   Scott

2. 
   tom93311 | Apr 16, 2009 07:50pm | #5

   If we don't know the symptoms it is hard to comment on whether we think it is due to poplar.  Since you used the word allergy I assume you mean sneezing and watery, itchy eyes or do you mean a skin rash?  If you describe the symptoms maybe someone can tie the seymptom to something else in your environment besides poplar.  It is spring so it is common for allergies to start now anyway.

1. 
   davidmeiland | Apr 16, 2009 08:30pm | #6

   Unfortunately for me, I have hives. Happened once before, 7 years ago, at a point when I was not doing any shop woodworking. I don't suspect a wood allergy but just wondering if it's very common.

2. 
   saschafer | Apr 16, 2009 07:41pm | #4

   I use poplar frequently, and I haven't noticed any problems (and I do have a lot of pollen allergies).

   Was the wood rough-cut when you first milled it? (I'm wondering if it could have been something on the wood, rather than the wood itself.)

   -Steve

    

3. 
   integrity_woodworks | Apr 16, 2009 09:08pm | #7

   David,  no not with poplar ,use it as secondary wood often. Cedar and fir turn my hands purple and make my eye's all puffy ,and sinus congestion

   Dan

4. 
   flairwoodworks | Apr 16, 2009 09:14pm | #8

   David,

   Any wood dust (or dust, for that matter) can be considered an irritant. It's all about how much dust you're making and how much gets inhaled. I wouldn't think that a non-oily wood like poplar would cause a reaction to skin though.

   Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
   (soon to be www.flairwoodworks.com)

    - Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

1. 
   saschafer | Apr 16, 2009 09:52pm | #9

   I've discovered that I get a pretty nasty reaction to birch splinters, which is surprising, but there you have it.

   -Steve

    

5. 
   nboucher | Apr 17, 2009 07:10pm | #10

   I would think that poplar allergies are pretty uncommon, but cedar sent me to a dermatologist once when my whole body broke out into a nasty rash. It was a great incentive to improve my dust control. I suggest you take a look at yours and see if it's what you need it to be.

   Norman

6. 
   sawdustdad | Apr 17, 2009 10:23pm | #11

   My wife is allergic to pine and oak, so I've used poplar without problems for wainscotting. But everyone is different, so you can test this by taping a  dollop of sawdust to the inside of your arm. If it reacts, you might have your culprit. OR it could be mold (or pollen, or other irritant) on the lumber.  

1. 
   rwdare | Apr 18, 2009 12:40am | #12

   Allergies are a reaction to a protein. All laving things, animal or vegetable, contain proteins. The interesting thing is that you can't be allergic to something the first time you come into contact with it but on a second exposure you may have a life threatening reaction!Dick

7. 
   jackbechtel | Sep 07, 2014 09:16am | #13

   Anyone allergic to poplar? (post #114256)

   My girlfriend's 2-acre property in PA is heavily wooded, with poplar being predominant, followed by red oak, elm and cherry. As a result of Hurricane Sandy, she had damage to the house and following the cleanup, I've been cutting down some mature trees that are too close for comfort.

   Unfortunately her late husband was not able to maintain the woods, with the result being a serious infestation of poison ivy, including widespread production of its white berries. I have been working to mitigate that infestation.

   Over the past two years, whenever I have cut one of my girlfriend's poplars, an allergic reaction has occurred beginning that evening and lasting three to seven days. The symptoms are classic to poison ivy. It doesn't matter if there's any prior evidence of p.i. on the particular tree I'm cutting. It doesn't matter if the tree is fresh cut or has been down a while. I believe there's urushiol in the wood itself. Whether it was absorbed through the roots or bark, or it's just created in the species, I can't say. Once I start itching, it affects most of my body, including hands, wrists, arms, legs, neck and belly.

   I used a logosol attachment to cut a poplar and some red oak into planks and that was when I had the most severe reactions, I believe, to the sawdust. I cut planks from a pin oak log at another property and had a similar reaction. It turns out that tree was known to host poison ivy.

   I use old, worn out socks on my forearms and wrists to minimize sawdust contact. The area under the cuffs of my gloves is particularly problematic.

   I notice that irritation develops on my neck and the exposed vee area of my shirt.

   I began wearing N95 dust masks any time I'm raising sawdust. I noticed that along with the other symptoms, my moustache area becomes irritated and in several instances that skin peeled after about ten days. Oddly, I can't complain of any unusual respiratory distress even though it's apparent that the inflammation is systemic and probably the result of respiratory and/or skin absorption.