Wood Allergy / Sensitivity?


matthew-s

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Anyone here have a wood sensitivity or allergy?

 

I've been building a table out of Birch.  It made me feel pretty crappy, like I had a bad cold (sore throat / earache, lots of coughing).  I went to my my doctor complaining of a cold, but he could not make sense of it - said it looked more like asthma, but I never had asthma before (and I'm in my 40's). I did not think to bring up my woodworking at the time.  After having issues on and off, I eventually put 2+2 together and realized I felt crappy after spending time in the shop.

 

With more poking around, I later found out that Birch is a "sensitizer" and can cause issues in people.

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/yellow-birch/

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/sweet-birch/ 

 

I've stared wearing a simple dust mask. I feel a lot better, although I still have a mild reaction.  I also have a cartridge-mask that I need to get new cartridges for - that should be better still - but man - one  reasons why I went the hand tool direction was to keep the safety equipment requirements to a minimum!

 

Is anyone else experiencing this?  Do you find that if you have a reaction to one of the nastier woods like Birch, do you also have problems wither more benign woods like pine and chestnut?  I do hope this is not something that will ruin this hobby for me!

 

I am going to post some questions in the Shop area about mitigation strategies.

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Even hand tools can send atomized spray into the air or so it seems in my shop. I have not worked birch recently but I have noticed issues with a few others. The prevailing wisdom here on the forums seems to be moving the air or picking up a respirator. I have yet to do the latter.

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Hmm thanks. Understanding I have nothing, and am mostly a hand tool woodworker, what might be the better buy, a HEPA vacuum or an air filter/scrubber?

I have a very small shop. About 12x8 I believe. Maybe 7' ceiling. Consequently, most products are WAY oversized for my needs and space.

I saw a small air cleaner made by shop vac for example. Does it do anything? The other option would be to get a festool Ct midi or a small fein vac.

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Not to be 'holier than thou' here, but its extremely foolish to work with any wood without a respirator. I learned that lesson the hard way working with walnut... walnut absolutely wrecks me for a few days after some moderate sanding and cutting. 

 

Not overly expensive, the filters are dirt cheap, and it keeps wood dust from the wet sticky bits in your body. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Series-Facepiece-Respirator-Medium/dp/B000FTEDMM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414892680&sr=8-1&keywords=respirator

 

 

for a space that small, I would honestly get a couple box fans and make some sort of improvised filter/exhaust out of that. 

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Wow. Amazing how many folks are in the same boat. Bummer it comes to this though. Growing up I watched my dad woodwork (carpentry really) all the time using only eye protection. I think it was mostly pine though.

Too bad this is how it goes. I guess I'll keep using a mask :(

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I'm very leery of exotic woods - I once had to shift around some boxes of drill-core at a mine in Africa, which were made out of rough-sawn planks of one of the local woods (no idea what, but a beautiful dark red-brown timber), and where my arms had been in contact with the wood I came out in the most violent itchy rash. The last thing I'd want is something like that to get inhaled into my body.

 

I don't wear a mask normally - I don't find normal sawing and shaping with hand tools a problem, but sanding can be bad. So I do try to do all my sanding outdoors which helps significantly.

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I do find exotics particularly nasty so always wear a powered respirator (Trend airshield pro) even when working by hand. For other timbers like oak, mahogany, sapele when working by hand I make sure the air is moving with an air cleaner. I turned my air cleaner around so its intake is to the left hand side of the bench and its output blows away from where I'm working.

Previously the output was blowing towards me and disturbing dust where I was working. That was worse than not having an air cleaner!

Of course any machining operation especially sanding (even by hand) I will wear the respirator regardless of species.

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By the way, this is the shop vac I am referring to: http://www.shopvac.com/wet-dry-vacs/vac-details.aspx?vacId=242&vacSKU=103-00-00

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I have one of these Shopvac air cleaners.

It works when compared to nothing at all, but another $150 can probably get you one of the cheaper 1hp dust collectors or one of those small (1/8 hp) hanging air cleaners, which could prove to be better over time.

If you're on a tight budget a possible alternative to the Shopvac is to get a common box fan and tape a furnace filter on the upstream side.

Like the Shopvac, it will collect some of the dust, but it will not clear the air of the most dangerous (fine ) particles.

Dave

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but another $150 can probably get you one of the cheaper 1hp dust collectors or one of those small (1/8 hp) hanging air cleaners, which could prove to be better over time.

Dave

I'm familiar with the hanging style. What is an example of the "1 hp dust collector"?

I was also considering something like this:

http://m.woodcraft.com/aHR0cDovL3d3dy53b29kY3JhZnQuY29tL1Byb2R1Y3QvODU3NjAxL1Jpa29uLTMtU3BlZWQtQWlyLUNsZWFuZXItNDAwLUNGTS5hc3B4

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Wow. Amazing how many folks are in the same boat. Bummer it comes to this though. Growing up I watched my dad woodwork (carpentry really) all the time using only eye protection. I think it was mostly pine though.

Too bad this is how it goes. I guess I'll keep using a mask :(

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If you get a high quality mask (3m) it makes wearing it a lot more bearable. I put a review up a while back in the reviews area.

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I was thinking of something like this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=1+hp+dust+collector&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

I wish I had something like this.

Meanwhile I lightly clamp my vacuum hose right next to the part I'm working and attempt to collect the sanding dust closer to the source.

That and a dust mask/ resp. may keep your intake below some kind of threshold.

Dave

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I was thinking of something like this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=1+hp+dust+collector&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

I wish I had something like this.

Meanwhile I lightly clamp my vacuum hose right next to the part I'm working and attempt to collect the sanding dust closer to the source.

That and a dust mask/ resp. may keep your intake below some kind of threshold.

Dave

Ah. That may be more than I need. I don't run any power tools indoors. I have a job site table saw, but I roll it out is the garage and use it outside on the occasion that I do.

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