Wood Dust and Toxicity

Why it matters

All wood dust can harm your health. Some woods also contain chemicals that cause irritation or allergic reactions. You can react to any wood, even one you’ve used for years without trouble.

Symptoms to watch for

The most common is irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, or throat. Others include rashes, hives, coughing, nosebleeds, runny nose, asthma, bronchitis, dizziness, nausea, and pink eye. Serious reactions can include asthma, lung problems, a whole-body reaction, or anaphylactic shock.

Dust collects under watchbands, collars, and waistbands, and in socks and shoes. Heat, humidity, and sweat make reactions worse.

Protect yourself

Wear a dust mask or respirator, and remove dust at the source.
Cover your skin: tight-fitting long sleeves, a turning smock, long pants, closed shoes, and a hat or headscarf. A sweat-resistant barrier cream can help.
Wash your hands before eating or using the bathroom.
Wash your clothes and shower after working with irritating woods.
Keep dust out of the house. It can affect your family too.

If you react

Mild irritation usually clears within hours. If it lasts more than a day, you may have become sensitized. Treat minor irritation like poison ivy, with over-the-counter remedies. Get medical help promptly for any allergic reaction. Allergy testing can identify the wood, but only if the wood itself is identified to the exact species.

Know your wood

Trade names are unreliable. “Rosewood,” for example, can mean several unrelated species, each with different risks. The same problem applies to ash, blackwood, ebony, mahogany, maple, mesquite, padauk, redwood, teak, and walnut. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory can identify a wood sample.

Wood toxicity tables (by Andi Wolfe):

Adapted from “Wood Toxicity: Symptoms, Species, and Solutions,” by Andi Wolfe, Ohio State University, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology.

CA glue and accelerator

CA (super) glue and accelerator give off harmful fumes, and CA glue bonds skin instantly. It’s especially dangerous in the eyes.

Work with good ventilation. Fumes can cause headaches, nausea, and breathing trouble.
Don’t use a powered respirator with CA glue. It pulls fumes in and concentrates them. Woodturning respirators don’t filter chemical fumes.
Wear safety glasses when applying CA glue.
Wear gloves if glue may touch your skin.
Keep debonder or acetone at hand.
Point the nozzle away from you.
If you apply CA glue to work on the lathe, stand aside when you restart it. Wet glue can fling off.
Most accelerators are highly flammable and toxic. A hand pump is safer than an aerosol spray.

If glue gets in your eyes, get medical help immediately. Don’t pull stuck eyelids apart. Never put debonder or solvent near your eyes or mouth.

Full safety tips and first aid: CA Glue and Accelerator Safety and First Aid, Richard A. Wright, Cape Cod Woodturners