# Iroko dust health problems ?



## ColeyS1 (7 Nov 2009)

Hi there, first new topic post so here goes. 

I started at a new place of work around 3 years ago. My previous job mostly involved me making softwood windows ( with hardwood cills ) 

My new work gave me the chance to supply only hardwood windows (iroko) - thinking its alot more durable/longer lasting etc etc for the customer. 

After around a year or so being there i started getting a rash all over my wrists and forehead. As days went by the rash's started getting more frequent and the itching became more and more annoying. 

I started to get a little worried so went to the docs. He took blood test after blood test and all was clear. He referred me to see a dermatologist, who also done several tests all showing nothing out of the ordinary. 
The dermatologist was unable to explain what was causing the reaction and i had no idea either what could be causing the problem. As it stands they have given me antihystamines to take to help with the itching.-This doesn't help me looking like i've walked through a stinging nettle bush though ! :lol: 

The reason i'm posting is because i read some where on here about an allergic reaction to wood. (not to be confused with being allergic to work!)I then googled 'Iroko health dust' and have completely papped myself at what i have learnt about the risks of working with such wood. 

We have extractors on every machine (admittedly,some work better than others) and didn't for a single second think the rash had anything to do with work.

What do you guys think? Am i clutching at straws trying to find a miracle answer. Seems odd the problems only started to happen a year or so after working with iroko on a daily basis. 

All comments welcome, would be good to hear if anyone else has had any similar problems. Thanks.

I'm still trawling through all the pages and pages of useful info and ideas on this site. Need to learn how to bookmark certain threads instead of saving them all to my favorites folder ! 

At the moment i'm gagging to try the 'using the circular saw tipped over at 30 degrees to make a curved chest lid, similar to a thicknesser idea'- Phew. Cant thank the poster, it would take to long going through all the favorites i have saved.


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## wizer (7 Nov 2009)

Welcome to the forum

It sounds like you've found you're culprit. There was a post on here a few years ago where a guy had been using Iroko and came up in a rash all over his body, especially his groin area :shock: I forget who that was. Iroko is a popular one, but many woods are toxic and\or allergenic. You'd be best advised to invest in a big tub of barrier cream and salther it on before work each day. Extractors are all well and god but your employers should be offering you respirators and have air filters. Not only can these toxic woods cause skin conditions but they can also cause much more serious problems to your repository system.

I've been fine with Iroko, but I have always worn my AirAce and barrier cream as I was aware of the dangers.


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## jimi43 (7 Nov 2009)

It is indeed very possible that you could have an allergic reaction to wood dust...in fact it is possible to have an allergic reaction to anything and sometimes when there was no previous reaction.

An old girlfriend of mine (long ago) suddenly got open sores on the insides of her index and adjacent fingers...and was in immense pain with it. She had been a hairdresser for five years. Turned out she had suddenly become allergic to the chemicals used and had to stop working in her beloved field.

Some dust such as Cocolobo and Paduk are actually quite poisonous. You are advised to have the proper filters when working such woods.

One thing you could try is using a good barrier cream. I am extremely sensitive to rockwall insulation...but if I use a barrier cream I have no problems handling it at all.

Jim


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## CHJ (7 Nov 2009)

Suggest you need to leave Iroko alone, a very uncomfortable spell in hospital could be just around the corner, if not worse.

Have a look at the links under safety HERE in the turning forum.

I cannot even enter a workshop where it is being worked or enclosed wood store for that matter.

EDIT:
The day your eyes suddenly close and you have to get someone to take you home/hospital you'll know it's gone far enough. It's not just the dust you can see but the chemicals released from the wood that get you, and there is little short of a chemical respirator that can stop them.


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## jimi43 (7 Nov 2009)

Wizer...amazing! Our posts passed in the ether!!! :wink: 

Great minds...as they say!

Jim


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## LocalOak (7 Nov 2009)

If you suspect Iroko, and it does look suspect, your doctor should be able to arrange a specific allergy test for Iroko to see whether it is indeed the culprit. However, that may take a while and protecting yourself in the meantime seems like a very sensible precaution.

Toby


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## CHJ (7 Nov 2009)

One of the main problems, once you have developed an intolerance to a specific wood is that it can rapidly spread to a sensitivity to other allergens, Yew and Beech being two that have hit me since Iroko, it has taken a couple of years of great care with Beech to reduce that, Yew often still requires the immediate taking of anti-histamines if I forget and touch my face or more vulnerable parts  if I forget to wash my hands on leaving the shop..


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## ColeyS1 (7 Nov 2009)

Thanks for all the posts and replys. CHJ you have nearly sent me into a early grave, frightened me to death ( but thanks) I've got some pics of the problem,hands and arm. I showed them to the doc to see what he thought as it was difficult to plan a visit to him with the rash still being there. As you've had similar problems could i put them on the thread to see if its still what everybody thinks. If so in a nutshell, how do i post a pic. My heart rates nearly returned to normal now. Will be putting off workshop tidy up which was planned for tomorrow until i find out more.


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## wizer (7 Nov 2009)

I wouldn't take medical advice from a bunch of woodworkers :lol: 

Take the pics to a dermatologist and have some tests done. It's 90% certain that this is the route cause of your problems. Whatever the case, you need to protect yourself from wood dust. All wood dust.


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## LocalOak (7 Nov 2009)

I agree wholeheartedly with wizer, put this in the hands of your doctor and get them to refer you to an immunologist or dermatologist. If you want advice on sharpening or cutting mortises then this is the place, medical advice is a touch more specialist...


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## CHJ (7 Nov 2009)

When this sort of thing gets to a third or more of your body then you could be living with medication living in the salad tray of the 'fridge for emergencies.






This was after about a weeks remedial medication.


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## CHJ (7 Nov 2009)

wizer":2nb62hyz said:


> I wouldn't take medical advice from a bunch of woodworkers
> .



Seconded, etc. needs to be diagnosed with certainty and place on record ASAP as livelihood and more importantly future health is at stake if it is wood allergy.


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## ColeyS1 (7 Nov 2009)

That looks very familiar ! I get what i call a bout, or burst of severe rash/itching 2-3 times per day when i'm at work. In the evenings my shins itch so much i feel like peeling the outer layer off. 

Thanks to all for giving me the heads up. Will see doc monday morning or perhaps ring dermatologist and see what they reccomend.


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## ColeyS1 (7 Nov 2009)

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy11 ... C01325.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy11 ... C01324.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy11 ... C01322.jpg

Glad i found this forum


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## ondablade (8 Nov 2009)

There's lots of good information on the health risks of wood and links to several wood toxicity tables on Bill Pentz's page here: http://www.billpentz.com/woodworking/cy ... lrisks.cfm - including some UK documentation.

He's into filter and cyclone design, and so has lots to say about dust hazards as well. Iroko is pretty well up there in terms of its triggering reactions - it's not necessarily directly toxic like say yew, but it's close.

Bill's pages on the topic of how ineffective most commercial systems are make sobering reading. Lots of punters seem to have built systems to his designs and rave about how good they are. In the meantime the US manufacturers doing dodgy underpowered and underfiltered systems (while doing all they can to take him off the air) seem slowly to be reacting to the wave of more informed opinion he has created.

What's been said above about sensitisation is correct, i worked for quite a few years in adhesives R&D and we were repeatedly taught to that effect.

I'd add that i struggled with wood dust for many years while ill with a thyroid problem which upset my immune system, and was comprehensively tested for allergic responses by a variety of consultants.

All came up negative, yet even a whiff of iroko would leave with with a tight chest and streaming nose. It's fortunately settled down in recent years now that i'm dosed with thyroid hormone.

My strategy is simply that i see no option but to install a very high performance dust extraction system that actually works - unlike the vast majority of commercial systems which (especially when you add in minimal maintenance) basically collect chips pretty effectively but are not much use on fine dust....


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## jimi43 (8 Nov 2009)

If it serves to convince you to go to a doctor, I took some pictures of what happens when I get too exposed to wood dust. 

Tonight I just finished clearing the workshop floor after a day of cutting up beech to finish a bench for my planer/thicknesser and my wife noticed that the rash (which is normally random) had only happened where my skin was exposed in the V of my rugby shirt:






You can see this clearly when I expose the neck (excuse the dirt....I clearly need a bath!!!)






My rashes don't itch (yet) so I don't worry too much but hope this gives a clear indication on how wood dust can affect the skin to differing degrees of seriousness!

Jim


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## devonwoody (8 Nov 2009)

My pennyworth,
once you have allergic reactions, the list of irritants seems to increase and some can then become caused by imagination (cant think of the right word psy........... )


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## woodbloke (8 Nov 2009)

Just as a very sober reminder, the recently late and undoubtedly great Alan Peters contracted a form of nasal cancer (though I stand to be corrected here) a few years before he died through direct inhalation of wood dust. Whilst there was never (as far as I recall) any mention in the recent obits, I'd lay money on the notion that nasal cancer of some sort was a major contributor to the cause of death - Rob


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## Chris Knight (8 Nov 2009)

Working with Iroko for longer than 10 minutes causes the skin at the ends of my fingers to develop cracks that can become very sore. I can prevent this if I use a barrier cream religiously each time I approach the wood. However, for me at least, it's much easier not to use it!


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## wizer (8 Nov 2009)

As I have to much of the stuff, I'm hoping to at least get through the majority of the stuff before it starts eating me....


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## devonwoody (8 Nov 2009)

Another thought ,

Iroko was much used in classrooms from the 1930 onwards, its available secondhand now from you know who.

So the alergy might already have been implanted from our school years. 

Who used to lay across the science tables?


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## OPJ (8 Nov 2009)

While I agree wholeheartedly with all previous comments, I still feel as though your employer should have done more to try and forewarn you - especially as you were working with iroko on a daily basis! It is true that they cannot "make" you wear PPE (that's up to you) but, they have a sworn duty to provide all the necessary kit. How often did you have an HSE inspection? If he knew that you were working with iroko every day then, he'd have surely bought that up with your employer?

To be honest, I never really considered the dangers of these hazardous dusts coming in to direct contact with our skin (looking at Jim's V-neck rash)... Guess it might be time for us to consider long sleeves and overalls in the summer?! :shock: :?


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## wizer (8 Nov 2009)

Or barrier cream Olly...


DW, I have about 20 old science desks under cover on my drive


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## ColeyS1 (8 Nov 2009)

Being selfemployed now, feel most of the blame is on my own shoulders. I spent around 10 years learning my apprenticeship before leaving.
Working with iroko very little in the 10 years i soon learnt it was nasty stuff. I thought that i had taken all the precautions required. (wearing a dust mask when visible dust is noticed, always using extraction.)

Only recently just added extraction to both belt and orbital sanders on my bench, to further reduce the dust. Also looking to upgrade the p/t and spindle extraction-Will be looking alot sooner now by the looks of things. Thanks for all the replys people


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## devonwoody (8 Nov 2009)

wizer":1u27bbdg said:


> Or barrier cream Olly...
> 
> 
> DW, I have about 20 old science desks under cover on my drive



Have fun.


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## CHJ (8 Nov 2009)

OPJ":mowo6qxm said:


> .....To be honest, I never really considered the dangers of these hazardous dusts coming in to direct contact with our skin (looking at Jim's V-neck rash)... Guess it might be time for us to consider long sleeves and overalls in the summer?! :shock: :?



It's not necessarily just dust either Olly, if the active chemicals ( quinones I believe are the worst culprits) become airborne they get breathed into the lungs for maximum body absorbtion.

Since I started using a mask with a waist mounted filter I have experienced a 10 fold reduction to reactions when at the lathe, I can't believe that this is just down to a slight improvement in dust filtering. I think it's more a case that airborne volatiles were being collected by my previous front mounted filter mask.


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## johnjin (8 Nov 2009)

I never had any reaction to any dust until I was about 58 when I first used Iroko. Now most wood dust will affect me by coming up in a rash. Just something I must learn to live with if I want to continue my hobby.

Best wishes 

John


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