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Tulane Wood Dust Study Finds No Adverse Respiratory Health Risks
By Wade Vonasek
The American Forest and Paper Association recently announced the completion of a six-year study into the potential respiratory health effects of wood dust exposure to workers in the wood and wood products industries. The $1.9-million study was commissioned by the Inter-Industry Wood Dust Coordinating Committee (IIWDCC), a consortium of 19 wood products trade associations, and carried out by the Tulane University Medical Center.

According to the AF&PA, the study concludes that breathing wood dust does not pose an adverse health risk to respiratory functions, as no significant adverse effects from wood dust were reported at participating facilities.

“The results were surprising in that we did not really see any effects with respect to exposure to wood dust,” says Dr. John Festa, PhD, senior scientist for the AF&PA. “The study was designed to look at exposure response, but at the levels encountered in the study, the Tulane researchers did not see effects over a fairly broad range of exposures.”

The study followed more than 1,100 employees from 10 plants across the country, representing a cross-section of the wood products industry, including furniture plants, cabinet and cabinet part manufacturing plants, a milled product facility, a plywood facility and an integrated sawmill-planer plywood facility. The plants provided a set of diverse operations with a range of dust levels for examining dose-response relations. Plants and employees participated voluntarily in dust monitoring and lung function testing, as well as answering health questionnaires.

While the study was specifically looking at potential effects of exposure to wood dust, researchers noted pulmonary effects unrelated to wood dust at two of the 10 facilities. The study’s authors suggest that the results may be due to a masked smoking effect at one of the plants, because of participants under-reporting their smoking habits. In another plant, researchers have proposed an additional study of non-wood dust factors, and the facility’s owners have begun an independent study.

Festa said that given the results of the study, he does not expect significant change in industry dust collection procedures, and states that no follow-up study or report is planned at this point. He commends the IIWDCC for funding the endeavor.

“I think it is to the industry’s credit to have sponsored this study,” Festa says. “It was a real commitment to wanting to ensure the continued safety of worker health.”

Festa will be speaking at the IWF 2006 Technical Conference session Got Wood Dust!!! How do you handle it?, taking place on Friday, Aug. 25, from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. Festa notes that in addition to the results of the Tulane study, he also will discuss the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists’ (ACGIH) threshold limit values for wood dust.

“My presentation is not just going to be about the Tulane study, it’s going to be an overview of wood dust with some historical perspective, talking about some of the health issues from the past and some of the regulatory standards. I’ll also summarize the findings of the Tulane study,” Festa adds.


Sponsors of the Respiratory Health
Study of Woodworkers

  • AmericanForest & Paper Assn.
  • American Home Furnishings Alliance
  • APA - The Engineered Wood Assn.
  • Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers
  • Architectural Woodwork Institute
  • Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers
  • Composite Panel Assn.
  • Hardwood Manufacturers Assn.
  • Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Assn.
  • Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Assn.
  • National Hardwood Lumber Assn.
  • National Wooden Pallet & Container Assn.
  • NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Assn.
  • Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn.
  • Southern Forest Products Assn.
  • Western Wood Products Assn.
  • Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America
  • Wood Moulding & Millwork Producers Assn.
  • Woodworking Machinery Industry Assn.