Iroko: breathing problems and sensitivity

[richnfamous]

hi all - I'm new round 'ere

as a skinflint, I like using reclaimed/upcycled wood I find here and there. recently I found a bit of what looks like Iroko - I've avoided it before because it makes my breathing tight. the first crosscut with a hand saw confirmed this and left me feeling rough for the rest of the day. it seems to happen even if I wear a mask - and I'm not going to risk machining it, even with good extraction

has anyone got any tips about how to deal with this? I've got a few bits which I'd love to use, but...

 

[Trevanion]

Are you using a paper mask or a proper P3 mask like a Ellipse? It makes a massive difference.

Iroko is a sensitiser and with more exposure to the dust your condition will actually worsen, it can also make you have reactions to other timbers you wouldn’t normally have. Some people can be badly effected by it without previous exposure and I think you fall into that category. I’ve seen joiners that have had to give up the workshop work because the dust affects them too badly. It might be best to leave it be as any dust created will stay in your workshop and could effect you even if you’re doing some light tidying up.

 

[richnfamous]

Are you using a paper mask or a proper P3 mask like a Ellipse? It makes a massive difference.

Iroko is a sensitiser and with more exposure to the dust your condition will actually worsen, it can also make you have reactions to other timbers you wouldn’t normally have. Some people can be badly effected by it without previous exposure and I think you fall into that category. I’ve seen joiners that have had to give up the workshop work because the dust affects them too badly. It might be best to leave it be as any dust created will stay in your workshop and could effect you even if you’re doing some light tidying up.

good point about the mask. I think I'll simply avoid it in future

 

[Starjump]

Hi,
I have contact dermatitis with various allergens - pine being the one that I was first aware of. It started as sawdust or shavings that made contact with my skin irritating and redenning the area of contact. I have since found that I get puffy eyes and redness around the nose / mouth when in areas with pine sawdust and the lungs get affected.
The other things that get me are iroko and I don't like mdf or it doesn't like me!
I have found it best to identify the allergens, and then to steer clear.
Woodwork is then fun again.
Hope this helps.

 

[thetyreman]

I've had similar problems with sapele and rosewoods, you definitely need to avoid the dust at all costs, you do need a good respirator mask, even then there's a risk with the dust, you have to be thorough in cleaning it up, probably not worth working with iroko again if it makes you feel bad.

 

[screwpainting]

I don't know if this would work for you, but I have really bad sinus problems and dust is a big problem for me. What I did at home was to create a sort of 'wind tunnel' effect in my shed by placing a very powerful wall mounted extractor fan at one end and leaving the door or window ajar at the other when creating any dust. This creates a constant corridor of fresh air from outside and then effectively removes everything out through the fan at the other end. This has been a great workaround for me except for really cold days when you lose all the heat inside, this fan changes the air every 30 seconds or something. It may not have much science to back it up but it actually works very well indeed. I still have the usual extraction though a cyclone, but this fan removes all the fine dust completely in a couple of minutes and you are then able to carry on working in the area without unscheduled bogey development.
It works for me (homer)

 

[richnfamous]

thanks for the tips. I never use MDF (ugh!) unless I'm repairing MDF...

I've got good extraction but it still gets me, even with hand planing. AFAIK I don't have any other sensitivities, apart from cedar splinters

no more iroko for me

 

[CHJ]

hi all - I'm new round 'ere

.. I found a bit of what looks like Iroko - I've avoided it before because it makes my breathing tight. the first crosscut with a hand saw confirmed this and left me feeling rough for the rest of the day. ....

If the reaction is that rapid, leave well alone without extremely good comercial P.P.E., and it's not only the dust contact but the volatiles that emanate from the wood that can hit you.

Read this for an in depth dissertation by a forum member on the risks involved.

P.P.E. to protect you sufficiently may well cost you more than the rest of your workshop. This is what I currently use for turning and shop clean up for bulk dust control (there are other brands, all similar price point) Still have to be careful to avoid skin contact etc.

 

[Keith 66]

Iroko is one of the worst timbers, i worked a lot of it over the years as a boatbuilder, but i nearly always wore a powered respirator. I bought my first Racal Airstream back in 1984 & have worn two of them out. I was recently lucky enough to find three lightly used ones secondhand that had been used for a dry lining contract & refurbed them so im sorted!
Heres a link to HSE Toxic woods sheet, worth looking at, http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis30.pdf,

 

[richnfamous]

hi all - I'm new round 'ere

.. I found a bit of what looks like Iroko - I've avoided it before because it makes my breathing tight. the first crosscut with a hand saw confirmed this and left me feeling rough for the rest of the day. ....

If the reaction is that rapid, leave well alone without extremely good comercial P.P.E., and it's not only the dust contact but the volatiles that emanate from the wood that can hit you.

Read this for an in depth dissertation by a forum member on the risks involved.

P.P.E. to protect you sufficiently may well cost you more than the rest of your workshop. This is what I currently use for turning and shop clean up for bulk dust control (there are other brands, all similar price point) Still have to be careful to avoid skin contact etc.

thanks. I've used pressure-fed full face masks and all the rest doing epoxy/glass work on boats and decent ones are pretty comfortable. I think the problem is really the oils. I have pretty good extraction on my machines but I'm just going to give it a miss