Walnut reaction....

[Jim Underwood]

Well I found out how well my Triton worked last night. It was wonderful. I only had a little trouble with the headband after an hour or two.

But it's a good thing I wore it too...

I was turning some green Walnut for the first time. (I got a good haul of it from a tree limb that blew down on my Pastor's house.) I got the bowl roughed out, and was cleaning all the piles of shavings, sucking it up in the dust collector, blowing the sawdust out of the lathe, and off of me, and...

Whoa! What are all these red spots all over my arms?!!!

So, yeah. I'm evidently a little sensitive to it. Mostly it looks like the wet shavings have raised welts or blisters that subside after a while. I washed off real well, and they're fading, leaving brown spots in their wake.

I'm wondering if I should just get rid of all the walnut? Or just make sure I'm wearing the respirator and cover up good when turning green walnut? I've turned kiln dried before and it didn't bother me. Well, barring walnut splinters of course, which are really irritating. (Of course I'll wear a respirator no matter what state it's in from NOW ON!)

Just don't know what I should do. Some say I shouldn't take any chances of having an anaphylactic reaction...

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Jim, if you have a skin reaction to the wood, I would be very careful about working with it. You may want to check with an allergist and/or dermatoligist concerning your reaction. At the very least, you may want to consider some type of safety clothing that will allow you to work safely with the lathe, yet cover exposed skin.

[Keith Burns]

I agree with Henry, be safe and don't take any chances.

Now as far as the walnut, get rid of it. My shipping address is........

[Jim Becker]

I agree with the others...take care, please. My locksmith had to completely give up woodworking a number of years ago...and he was a carver...because of a reaction to Walnut that blossomed into a general intolerance for most species wood dust. (He really takes care when he has to drill a wood door at this point...)

I am not sensitive to walnut, thankfully, since I have a lot of it from off the property. I did recently find out that bubinga is a nasty for me, however...

[Lloyd Frisbee]

I had a similar (more severe) reaction to Cocobolo. When you wash up, use cold water because warm or hot water will open your pores and create a worse reaction. Fortunately walnut has not affected me cuz it is one of my favorite woods.

[thomas prevost]

Rash is the sign of real danger. If the dust getinto your lungs and you have reaction there you are big trouble. A guy at one of the saw mills nearby nearly died as he lungs swelled up and filled with fluid from a reaction in lungs with the dust. This was in a matter of minutes. seems like what ever in walnut that kill grass underneath it is toxic and some people are more sensitve than others. Some mills here will not cut walnut because of the sensitvity.

[Tony Kent]

Hello,
I totally agree with being VERY careful with walnut or any other wood you might have a reaction from. If it became severe enough and you went into anaphylactic shock that can be life threatining. I know of where I speak because sadly my Mother had a disease that caused anaphyaxis and that is what took her from us 5 years ago, I too have the illness and have to stay way clear of cocobolo and spalted woods cause me a problem.(dang fungi) Please be very careful, I realize you haven't been diagnosed with what I have and it is rare, but many woodturners and woodworkers have sensitivities. I am not a Doctor, I do not know if there is one here, but please consult a DR. if you plan on continuing with walnut. It really is nothing to mess with. I wish you well in your turnings and in health. Please er on the side of caution.

[Dick Strauss]

See the following new thread on allergies to wood:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=41436

The list Jim provided is not all inclusive since it doesn't mention walnut in particular.

Lloyd,
You mentioned a reaction to cocobolo. If you look at Jim's list, you'll see that the active ingredients in cocobolo are also present in many other rosewoods. This may suggest that you also avoid these woods...

Take care,
Dick

[Jim King]

Just as a side note to allergies I can say that there are many companies looking for nice looking duplicates of Rosewoods in order to replace the Rosewood stock. The Rosewoods seem to be the vast majority of the allergic problems and the big companies have gotten nervous about Rosewoods. Cocobolo seems to be the most notorious.