Toxic Woods

[greywolf]

Many of us love the beauty of exotic wood , there are however some caveats.  I've suffered a few of the side effects in the past . 
This link provides  the lowdown on what woods toxic properties are , protective gear is worth the investment...

http://www.finewoodworking.com/Materials/MaterialsArticle.aspx?id=29311

 

[swarfrat]

Many beautiful things are...

 

[greywolf]

If you are just finishing it , it's not a big deal .. it's when you sand it that the issues arise

 

[Eric Banjitar]

paduak has caused rashes on me in the past.  Be careful people.

 

[crash]

Who would have thought that a wood called Sneezewood would cause respiratory ailments?

 

[bagman67]

To say nothing of "painfulgenitalburningbark."

 

[mgaut051]

Padouk has bothered me, whereas cocobolo has not. So there is definitely some variability, person to person.
A good air filter, open air space and some solid mask is required for all woods when sanding (I don't really finish, so I wouldn't know).
Just google woodworker's lung...
Padouk set my skin on fire. Ebony made me cough for 3 days.

 

[hannaugh]

My husband turned a piece of cocobolo a couple weeks ago and broke out in terrible rashes.  No bueno.  :sad:

 

[line6man]

I've worked with 50+ species of wood now. The only ones that have ever really bothered me were Kingwood and Canary. Both of which are a bit irritating to breath and give me mild chest pains. I've yet to find a wood that causes skin irritation. To be fair, I've never had any allergy problems with anything. I guess I'm lucky.  :icon_smile: