Worked on some mahogany door blanks “made in Bolivia” – man, the dust felt so toxic, it was making everyone on the job feel sick. My throat was constricted, my eyes were burning.
I finally finished up, and spent about 45 minutes (with a dust mask on) sweeping up every last vestige I could get to. Immediately felt better – although still feeling a little sick tonight, headache, throat sore, etc.
“…craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit.” – P. Korn
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I'm currently doing a job qith Macarae and the dust from it is doing the same to our noses and throats. Does anyone have a list of which woods are toxic???
fmaglin
Quote: "Does anyone have a list of which woods are toxic???"FYI...All wood is "toxic". How much and in what way is the question. Some woods are more toxic to some than to others, sort of in an allergen way.In the book "Nick Engler's Woodworking Wisdom" he states:
"There are two common ways that a wood may affect your health, as either an IRRITANT or a SENSITIZER. Irritants bother most craftsmen, at least to a small degree. These effects may be mechanical rather than chemical - fine sawdust tickles your nasal passages and makes you sneeze. More often, though, it's the chemicals in the sawdust that irritate you. The tannic acid in oak, for example, is a powerful irritant."
"Sensitizers affect only those people who are allergic to them. Allergic reactions range from a runny nose and watery eyes to hives and asthma. Furthermore, repeated exposure often causes greater sensitivity, and the reaction becomes more severe."
"A very few woods contain chemicals which cause SYSTEMIC reactions, affecting the stomach, nerves, kidneys, even the heart. Oleander and yew, for example, contain chemicals similar to Digitalis, a heart drug." Here's a list:
Western Red Cedar...SENSITIZER
Cocobolo...IRRITANT
Ebony...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Doug. Fir...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Goncolo Alves...SENSITIZER
Ipe...SENSITIZER
Iroko...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Kingwood...SENSITIZER
Lacewood...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Mansonia...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Oregon Myrtle...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Red Oak...IRRITANT
White Oak...IRRITANT
Oleander...IRRITANT
Padauk...IRRITANT
Peroba Rosa...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Bolivian Rosewood...SENSITIZER
Honduran Rosewood...SENSITIZER
Indian Rosewood...SENSITIZER
Sassafras...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Satinwood...IRRITANT
Spruce...SENSITIZER
Teak...SENSITIZER
Tulipwood...SENSITIZER
Walnut...IRRITANT and SENSITIZER
Yew...IRRITANTFor more info see:
"AMA Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants", by Dr. Kenneth Lampe and Mary Anne McCann, American Medical Association 1985"Woods Injurious to Human Health", by Bjorn M. Hausen, Walter de Gruyter Inc., 1981Aside from the information listed above, I think it is also important to note that people with allergies to nuts are especially vulnerable to the wood of those nut bearing trees. This is just another FYI that you should know if any employees or clients have nut allergies and to what extent. While I am the last guy to be afraid of tools, chemicals, or dicey operations... I do believe that having an upperhand knowledge of what can go wrong in a situation, pre-planning, and knowing what to do when good times go bad is all part of being a true professional in any trade especially carpentry. Not to be rude of preachy but if it came as a total shock to you that the wood you were using was toxic... you may want to do a bit more research into each aspect of what you do.DC
Thanks for that info DC. I was aware of the toxicity of Oak and Walnut, but the wood that bothers me the most (sensitivity wise) is Spanish Cedar. Thanks again for the list.Frank
Funny - I've heard the same about Spanish cedar and I've practically eaten it. Doesn't affect me at all and I really like the smell.
Jeff
Watch out for spalted woods. They contain fungi that can cause death from pulmonary edema. Some documented cases of death are usually wood-turners.
fmaglin... were you maddog in another life ?Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Hi Mike,That would be me. How have you been?Formerly Mad Dog
last time i saw you around here you had just returned from russia with your bride
beaumont and james duhammel's... good timesMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Yup, it's now 5 years later and I still consider her my bride. We moved from Texas back to my good ol home state of Ohio where I re-activated my union card and am working for a high end trim outfit out of Columbus. I've been steady working since we moved back in 2006.
I brought all of my shop machines with me and am set up in the basement of my new home doing side work when available. Life is great!Hope you are doing good as well! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Frank
I'm not familar with Bolvian Mahogany. I am familar with Honduras Mahogany and would have assume they were similar. I do recognize the slight differance between Cuban Mahogany and Honduras but it's really trivial.
The cuban mahogany I've worked with actaully was found in Florida since Cuba no longer exports any of it's mahogany.
I had that once with a wood a gut called a south american cedaar that looked more like mahogany to me - very hard but milled nice. He wanted me to make handrails from it. I almost quit before it was done. Dust masks and working outside got me thru it.
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A lot of South American woods have fake names like "Brazillian Cherry," that masquerade as other woods so consumers will buy'em. I have a feeling that the "Mahogany" you have isn't. It's probably something different. Post a pic or describe it over to Fine Wood Working to help identify it.
I've worked with a lot of Mahogany and never had that reaction. I've also worked with some other woods that really had bad effects. Some are kin to poison ivy and will cause a rash too.
A little search turned up your mahagony as swietenia macrohylla. It falls under the american mahogany grouping. If you scroll down on this link :
http://www.riparia.org/toxic_woods.htm
you will find it and your possible reactions to it
Quite a few tropical woods will cause either respiratory or dermalogical problems. The various rosewoods are well known for this but there are so many unusual species that are becoming available. Some folks are not effected while other have a severe reaction. We tried to use obeche for an inexpensive white wood and half the shop would have to go home. OSHA considers all wood dust to be hazardous. We keep an MSDS on wood dust. Here is a list of toxic species but there may be many more.
http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/roche/rec.wood.misc/wood.toxic
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Thru woodturning, I've learned about a lot of those woods.
I know a few guys who will just about break out in a rash looking at a rosewood.
And you can work with the woods for years, until your body gets sensitized to it; then all kinds of reactions can occur. I know one guy who had an asthma attack after using some tropical wood he had turned safely for years.`
Any tropical wood is going to be toxic to a degree. How else do you think the trees resist bugs and rot?
After years of trying to get by with throw-away paper dust masks I bought a painter's mask with two replaceable filters. It adjusts to fit over the nose and mouth snugly and comfortably. And I can actually breathe through it, almost normally.
Since then I've carried it with my tools and use it whenever there's anything going on that puts dust into the air.
Thirty-some bucks well spent. Paint department at Home Depot. Saves the lungs, the liver and who knows what else.
There are different filters available, to remove both particulate matter and chemical fumes from the air being breathed.
I'll do you one better:
I got the North 7600 series full face mask. It does all the breathing functions you mention PLUS it has built in eye protection. I paid more than $200 for mine, but you can ebay them for less.
I find it so comfortable I'd rather wear that than a paper mask.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
I agree with HVC..a mask that deals with solvents..Ie. lacquer thinner etc . will take care of that stuff..I used to make pool cues from all sorts of strange tropical woods , and never had a problem using one of them..
Bud.