I am currently recovering from a severe allergic reaction to some wood I was working with. I acquired the wood years ago from an old violin maker. In addition to some exotics that I have not been able to identify, I also acquired several cherry boards from the same source. Each time I have used the material, I noted a rash develop under my watchband. Over the years, I have used the wood several times and each time, the rash was more severe and quicker to start. Last week I ended up in the emergency room, and my wife has been cleaning every speck of sawdust and wood from my shop for the past 5 days.
The reaction occurred using several different species and seemed only to be limited to the wood from this one source. Does anyone have any idea what the specific allergen might be? I don’t want to go through this again.
Replies
This is from an old posting I did
Pau Ferro aka Brazilwood (Guilandina echinata) got me. I sanded two bowls on the lathe and then went and mowed my lawn and yard work. Six hrs later I took a shower. So the dust was on me for a long time.
Couldn’t work for two weeks, had to get a shot everyday for a week. This was twenty years ago; I have not had a problem with any woods since. And I’ve worked with exotics a lot. I always try to find out about woods that I’m not familiar with. Then what I do now is put some sawdust on the backside of my arm and rub it. I look at it the next day if its red I won’t work with it. I don’t have sensitive skin, quite the opposite. It’s not that you are allergic per say but that the wood is toxic and you become sensitizes to it.
Jeff in So Ca
If the woods are limited to one source and it involves a similar reaction with different species, I would suspect that your are reacting to some sort of organic allergen (eg mold, mildew, or fungus) that has infected/inoculated the old man's stock/woodpile .....................OR ......................... you may be reacting to some chemical that was used to treat the pile.
In the '40's, 50's, '60's and into the early "70's a lot of woods were processed through pentachlorophenol (PCP) dip tanks to eliminate sapstain (bacteria), molds and mildews from discoloring the wood surface. A whole array of different chemicals were also used after penta was banned and include chemicals like tri-butyl-tin oxide, zinc napthanate and various copper based wood preservatives. Nobody really has a good handle on all the types of chemicals used by industry before those nasty, overbearing governmental agencies put a damper on the money making free enterprises/businesses by imposing regulations to protect both workers and consumers and maybe the environment. A lot of old, abandoned mill sites are still sources of chemical pollution that over the years dripped into the soils from the lumber and is now still running off into streams or is leaching into ground water systems.
If the wood came from a small pecker wood mill, who knows what combination of biocides, herbicides and pesticides, using god only knows what solvent, might have been combined to treat the wood. Quite seriously, the old gaffer might have had some extra DDT around his shop and felt it was a good way to both treat the wood and/or get rid of the DDT.
If you suspect such contamination or are concerned that such treatment may have occurred, my suggestion would be to get rid of it; handling it like it were a dangerous and toxic material. My first suggestion would be to get it to a landfill. What ever you do, do not burn it!
I believe that the cost to replace that material is significantly less than the medical bills you might incur by continuing to use it.
Stanley Niemiec -- Wood Technologist MS Penn St '79
Spell checked for Jon
Thanks for the info. You may have hit the nail with the wood treatment theory. The old man was meticulous in dating when he purchased the wood. Much of it was dated late 60's.
We have already removed all of the suspect wood from the shop. The old bargin has been rather coslty. Time to buy new wood from reliable sources.
Thanks again.
Hold on there Daddyman. Stanley may be right about it being a chemical contamination...But then you might just be one of those unfortunate few who have a severe sensitivity to an extractive found in the rosewoods (Dalbergia spp) called dabergione. I'm sure a landfill would be willing to accept that wood, but so might a lot of woodworkers.
The rosewoods are popular among luthiers, so it's a good chance some of the wood you have belongs to this genus. Before you pitch it, you might want to see a doctor and have him test you for sensitivity to dalbergione. If you are, I'm sure there are some wood workers who'd be happy to pay you for this stock. depending upon the species, the rosewoods sell for $10 and up per board foot.
Jon:
If you re-read the original post, there is an implication that Cherry is also part of the problem. If it were limited to exotics, I might consider the medical reactivity problem to be primarily attributable to tropical exotic species extractives.
As there are imported tropical species, it is possible that the chemical problem might have originated at the source since foreign countries may not have any restrictions regarding the use of chemical substances banned in this country. That the cherry is also a problem tends to indicate to me that the gaffer was responsible.
Knowing there might be a problem with medical sensitization/reactions with utilization of those woods and being unsure of the causality, giving or selling them to another woodworker could put an individual in a very serious assumed liability position.
The alternative would be test the wood but if you are uncertain of the possible chemicals, those tests could be very expensive. And if the results did indicate that some banned chemical were on the wood, disposing of that material would then subsequently be an extremely expensive and time consuming endeavor (eg if they must be considered as a hazardous material). In this case, ignorance may be best regarding disposal.
Stanley, I went back and re-read Daddyman's first post. My take on it is that this suspect load of wood contains some cherry, but not necessarily that the cherry is one of the species that bothers him. Also, he reports that his wife has cleaned the shop for him. If this wood had been chemically contaminated with a universal toxin (poisonous substance), you would think that she too would have experienced some negative reaction. His progressively worse symptoms, resulting from repeated exposure, also suggests that the problem here is an allergen, rather than a universal poison.
I still don't think it's time to punt on this wood. There may be nothing wrong with it and it obviously contains some rare and now expensive species...Stanley, I'm surprised a tree hugger like you would suggest wasting such a valuable resource.
Thanks to all for your advice and council.
Couple of clarifications:
All the wood from the lot seemed to have contributed to the worsening of the reaction. Pernambuco, rosewood, cherry, black walnut, spruce, maple, etc. This leads me to believe that the allergen was applied or acquired while the wood was stored by the old violin maker.
Handling the wood did not seem to bring on the reaction. Cutting, scraping, sand, anything that generated dust with the dust coming in contact with skin seemed to be the key.
Every speck and stick has been removed. The only remaining samples are parts and portions of finished pieces. All of which are firmly encapsulated in finishes of one kind or another. Nothing left to sell and no chance I will pass the problem onto another unsuspecting woodworker.
A significant contributor to this decision was the fact that I got the wood from the old violin maker's widow. He died from an undiagnosed illness that involved uncontrollable internal bleeding. I don't know if there is a connection, but it's not worth the risk to me or to others. This also explains why the wood has been around so long. It had sentimental value by itself and was only used for special projects. This time it was to make a candle box to be given to my son and his wife as a wedding gift.
My dear wife has been cleaning my shop in the home equivalent of a Level A HAZMAT Suit. Paper suit, gloves, respirator. She has not shown any reaction to her exposure beyond stress and aggravation at the cleanliness of my shop. I'm not sure at this point if she will ever let me use the shop again. I may not be able to cut wood in there again, but I think it will be clean enough to perform surgery.
This experience has taught me a number of lessons:
Thank you all.
Whoa! You mean this wood apparently killed the guy? Count yourself lucky that you found out in time withe the reaction. Maybe the old duster didn't have any allergic reaction and didn't know what was happening.
Thanks for telling us that. I sometimes pick up wood from unreliable sources and you have warned me to be careful about this. FRom now on, I think I'll stick with reliable sources only. Bargains don't seem much like bargains anymore.
Dave
Quite seriously, the old gaffer might have had some extra DDT around his shop and felt it was a good way to both treat the wood and/or get rid of the DDT
I find it hard to believe that ANY woodworker would do something like that let alone a violin maker. Any woodworker worth his salt knows that the only thing you put on wood is the finish. Having wood laying around from the 80's let alone the 60's or 70's seems far fetched. Lets find out what it really is and let him get tested and when the results come back we will all know.
Dave in Pa.
"...I have used the wood several times and each time, the rash was more severe and quicker to start." Your body was giving you a hint! This is a common progression with allergies, and a person is really looking for trouble if s/he doesn't pay attention to the first occurrence/reaction. But now I'm probably preaching to the choir. Lesson learned? Hope so!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Personally, I would get in touch with an allergist or a dematologist. They can test you for sensitivety, and with samples of the wood, can determine if there is either something in the wood or on the wood that is causing your problem.
Sensitivities to wood develope slowly over time becoming more severe with each exposure. They never get better and you must begin to protect yourself if you continue woodworking using those woods. Sensitivities to one wood frequently indicate the development of sensitivities to other woods.
"Sensitivities to one wood frequently indicate the development of sensitivities to other woods."
Not necessarily so -- certainly if an individual is developing pneumoconiosis (fibrous induration of the lungs due to irratation caused by the inhilation of dust [ie brown lung disease]) or even a pneumonia from some pathogen (bacteria, molds, mildews or fungi) but if the condition is related to problems with the skin, it is generally sensitivity to a specific chemical wood extractive.
I doubt if most woodworkers are aware of the complexity and toxicity of some of these wood extractives. The trees are developing sophisticated biocides to protect themselves from attack from certain pathogens which are quite effective (as with one scale of measurement - decay resistance). If the attacking organism is larger (as a sheep grazing on the needles of Yew [Taxus baccata] these chemicals can be fatally poisonous if ingested in sufficient quantities. These biocides can also be effective herbicides -- if you want to see tomato plants die, take some walnut sawdust and spread it around the plant and then soak the sawdust so the extractives get leached out. Safrole (derived from Sassafras is a Class 1 carcenigen), the thujaplicines of Western redcedar, etc, etc, are some pretty nasty chemicals. Long term exposure to some wood extractives, beyond rashes and hives, can lead to cancers of the lung, liver, kidneys, and bladder; or if exposed to sufficient volumes, after sensitization, can lead to shock or cardiac arrest.
I am a professional musician and have known of several bowmakers who have developed severe allergies to pernambuco, which is the wood virtually all fine bows are made of. One of these guys reactions matched the symptoms you describe. ( I never personally saw others when they were having trouble, I just heard that they had had to stop working because of the reactions.) You might try contacting the Violin Society of America. They are a prestigious association of violinmakers and bowmakers- very difficult to get in. They would probably have more specific info an allergic reactions that are more common to their profession.
Henry
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled