# Dalbergias and Wood Sensitivities/Allergies



## Sprung (Jul 16, 2015)

Recently I noticed when working with Cocobolo that I've started to have a mild reaction - redness on my hands and arms where the chips came into contact from turning and even a little bit in my breathing (despite wearing a respirator.) I've got a couple in progress pieces (a couple in progress pen orders) using various Dalbergias that I need to finish up, then I will no longer be working with any of the Dalbergias. I'll be taking extra precautions when working with the few remaining items - respirator (which I always use, but I'll be switching from the dust filters to the chemical filters) and covering the skin on my hands and arms.

I was doing some poking around on the topic and The Wood Database says of Pau Ferro "Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a high rate of reaction among woodworkers, and the wood contains the very same sensitizing substances as those found in rosewoods_(Dalbergia_ genus)."

This saddens me because I have a very nice board of mottled/bee's wing Pau Ferro (Bolivian Rosewood) that I've been saving for a special project and now I may not be able to use it, for fear of a possible reaction to it.

What I was wondering is if there are any other woods that might contain the same sensitizing substances of the dalbergias, even if not a dalbergia? I've been doing some searching, but haven't found any answers on it yet, other than the mention I quoted from the Pau Ferro page on TWD.


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## Schroedc (Jul 16, 2015)

I react to the dalbergias with a slight rash but for me Pau Ferro does nothing to me so it might be possible for you to still work it.......

Reactions: Like 1


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## Blueglass (Jul 16, 2015)

Take your precautions and take a shower right after finishing. Gauge it from there. Funny enough I hace more of a respitory reaction to Cherry than any of the Dalberias. Everybody is allergic to something.

Reactions: Like 1


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## phinds (Jul 16, 2015)

Pau Ferro is not a Dalbergia but of course Eric knows that and I see that he just says it has the same sensitizing agent.

I was not aware, and am STILL not aware, statements in this thread to the contrary notwithstanding, that Dalbergias in general cause problems. SOME of them do but there are over 100 of them. Cocobolo most emphatically CAN cause problems but may not and pau ferros is, as Eric says, another one that causes problems.

I have had a terrible reaction in my eye from cocobolo dust; the whites swelled up so much I had to go to the emergency room. It just happened once and has never happened again despite working a fair amount with cocobolo.

I also had a very severe bronchial attack (another trip to the ER) but that was my own stupid fault because I thought just sanding a little piece was OK and I didn't need to put my respirator on. Dumb ! With a respirator I've never had that problem again.

I also had a fairly severe rash from cocobolo dust, it the crook of my elbows, but I was REALLY lucky in that I did not become sensitized to it and I've had my arms covered in cocobolo dust several times since then and no hint of any effect. I was not aware early on about sensitizers and didn't realize that after the first skin attack I should have been MUCH more careful. Fortune smiles on the ignorant?

I've never had any problems with Machaerium spp. (pau ferro / morado / Bolivian "rosewood") but that's just luck I figure.

It seems to be just the luck of the draw whether any individual has issues and to what extent, but I really do think I was lucky in not getting sensitized to cocobolo. Apparently, if it bothers you once, you are almost certain to get sensitized to it.

Matt, it's a damned shame that you're one of the unlucky ones, but don't let your problem with cocobolo put you off of all rosewoods.


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## Sprung (Jul 16, 2015)

phinds said:


> Pau Ferro is not a Dalbergia but of course Eric knows that and I see that he just says it has the same sensitizing agent.



Yeah, I knew that it's not one of the Dalbergias - I had read up on it on your site as well. But I did find it intriguing that it possibly has the same sensitizing agent.



phinds said:


> Matt, it's a damned shame that you're one of the unlucky ones, but don't let your problem with cocobolo put you off of all rosewoods.



I've got a couple pieces of Honduran Rosewood that are in the middle of becoming pens for an order from a friend. I'll see what kind of a reaction I may or may not have to them. I'm hoping that maybe it'll be just be a largely Cocobolo thing - which seems oilier than any of the other rosewoods I've worked with. I have a Tulipwood pen I made about the same time and also got a little bit of a skin reaction to it. I sent pretty much every piece of dalbergia of one kind or another to Tony already, but have a few pen blank sized pieces that I kept just for my own personal collection - just to have because they're such beautiful woods. I'm known for having some pretty bad allergy problems with a number of different things, so I'll be extra careful going forward, but I hope that I'll still be able to work with some of the rosewoods - they're beautiful woods!


Thanks, everyone, for the input!


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## kazuma78 (Jul 16, 2015)

I think it's interesting how much of a reaction some people have. I've cut and turned several pieces of cocobolo and have never had any reaction either on my skin or respitory when I didn't wear a mask. I guess I got lucky!

Reactions: Like 1


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## phinds (Jul 16, 2015)

Sprung said:


> ... I'll be extra careful going forward


A wise decision, obviously.



> ... but I hope that I'll still be able to work with some of the rosewoods - they're beautiful woods!


Definitely should give it a try, but with caution, as you say. The ARE beautiful woods. It's likely to be the oily ones, like cocobolo, that cause the problems.

This is the first time I can remember anyone saying they had trouble with tulipwood. Boy, you do have bad luck. I love that wood almost as much as cocobolo.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Jul 16, 2015)

phinds said:


> Boy, you do have bad luck.



Yeah, I won't give you the laundry list of items that I've discovered I'm allergic to... Really sucks sometimes having some very high sensitivities and allergies to various things...


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## barry richardson (Jul 17, 2015)

One thing I have notice on some of the wood data-bases is they say dang near every wood may cause a reaction in their details on the wood.


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## phinds (Jul 17, 2015)

barry richardson said:


> One thing I have notice on some of the wood data-bases is they say dang near every wood may cause a reaction in their details on the wood.


Barry, I've seen several different lists and they all have about the same 50 or so woods out of hundreds that are commonly available, so my experience does not agree with your "near everything", but there certainly are quite a few.


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## Mike1950 (Jul 17, 2015)

barry richardson said:


> One thing I have notice on some of the wood data-bases is they say dang near every wood may cause a reaction in their details on the wood.





phinds said:


> Barry, I've seen several different lists and they all have about the same 50 or so woods out of hundreds that are commonly available, so my experience does not agree with your "near everything", but there certainly are quite a few.



If the list comes from California it lists all woods. Maybe it is the climate there........ or the lack of water.


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## phinds (Jul 17, 2015)

Mike1950 said:


> If the list comes from California it lists all woods. Maybe it is the climate there........ or the lack of water.


They ARE sometimes a bit weird out there but do you mean all the woods that grow in CA or all the woods that are commonly available to people in CA (using the internet).


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## Mike1950 (Jul 17, 2015)

phinds said:


> They ARE sometimes a bit weird out there but do you mean all the woods that grow in CA or all the woods that are commonly available to people in CA (using the internet).


All wood and wood dust according to Ca are carcinogenic.


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## phinds (Jul 17, 2015)

Mike1950 said:


> All wood and wood dust according to Ca are carcinogenic.


Riiiigggght. You think maybe if that were true we'd have heard about it from the folks who actually work with wood all day long?


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## Mike1950 (Jul 17, 2015)

phinds said:


> Riiiigggght. You think maybe if that were true we'd have heard about it from the folks who actually work with wood all day long?



Nah- They are the government- they know much better just ask them. Look how well they are doing with their water!!!


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## barry richardson (Jul 17, 2015)

phinds said:


> Barry, I've seen several different lists and they all have about the same 50 or so woods out of hundreds that are commonly available, so my experience does not agree with your "near everything", but there certainly are quite a few.


I just went to the Wood Database and looked up all the main woods I currently have in my shop, cherry, walnut, mahogany, red oak, white oak, hard maple, bubinga, and basswood, the only one that had no reports of reactions was basswood, all the others had a statement similar to this "*Allergies/Toxicity:* Hard Maple, along with other maples in the Acer genus have been reported to cause skin irritation, runny nose, and asthma-like respiratory effects. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information. I stand by my "darn near everything" hyperbole

Reactions: Agree 3


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