Toxic Dust

[chad leuckel]

Im new to turning and i keep reading about how toxic alot of the woods dust is . I read how guys are wearing 1000.00 air supplied respirator and that even with that you should not take it off in shop after you turn that the small micron particles stay in the air for hours How much of this is over hype and how much do i really have to be concerned with . how do you protect yourself and do i need a 1000 respirator just to turn safely , all this makes me wondering if turning is worth it but i do enjoy doing it , I appreciate any feedback ,thanks chad

 

[Barbara Gill]

Chad, according to the specs, a North 7700 series mask will accomplish the same as the expensive masks at a fraction of the cost. 3M has a comparable product. There have been a number of threads about this I know on Wood Central. I am not sure about here. I am including several sites for you to check it out. I called North to get the complete specs years ago when this first started being an issue. I have worn a North 7700 series mask in the sawmill since 1986 and in my shop.
http://www.approvedgasmasks.com/north-7700.htm

I use the pancake filters in the shop.

 

[Bob Edwards]

Chad, You have hit on the most dangerous part of wood turning. Toxic wood or not any dust in your lungs is not good, and Barbara's advice is very good. Another inexpensive mask is the TOTOBOBO mask. You can find info as well as all the specs on this lite weight mask at their site, http://totobobo.com/blog/woodturner-mask/
They can be ordered also from Vince Welch http://www.vinceswoodnwonders.com/

Another trick is to somehow move the dust away from your face while turning. We each have our own unique shop environment. Mine is in a warm climate in a garage. My lathe is in the back corner where I have put in a window to the left of the head stock. When I am turning I put a 24" box fan in the window. I also put a small fan on the bench to the right of the tail stock. Together they create a constant air flow across the lathe to move all the dust away from me. This in addition to the TOTOBOBO mask dose the trick for me.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Some tropical woods are really bad -- like cocobolo. It does not bother everybody, but some people have become sensitized and break out in a rash when exposed to it. Most domestic woods are not nearly as bad with respect to allergic reaction, but if you become sensitized then many other woods may affect you. As Bob Edwards said, ANY kind of dust is bad for your lungs whether toxic or not. I use a $700 respirator (3M Airstream) because I was too cool to be affected by wood dust -- or so I thought. Now, I must wear a respirator with a HEPA filter in order to not have my sinuses completely close up. I decided that I prefer to be able to breathe more than having some extra money in my pocket. The Airstream is not the only product and there are things that cost a lot less. Just make sure that it is adequate. The cheap hardware store "comfort masks" are not good for fine dust floating in the air. An N95 mask is probably fine for occasional exposure to fine dust. If you were in a dusty work environment with all day long exposure every day then more protection would be called for like a N100 or P100 HEPA filter or even a supplied air system.

 

[Bill Grumbine]

Barbara's advice is good, but of course she has no beard. At least, she didn't have one last time I saw her. 😛 Very seriously though, wood dust is toxic. Some of it is less and some of it is more, but it is all going to kill you if you breathe enough of it. Throughout history, woodworkers have died of cancers of the nose, throat, and lungs. But we all have to die of something, right?

Back to Barbara's advice, you can find a decent mask that will filter out the bad stuff. But, if you have a beard, it will not work. So then, you need to decide what is important to you. If your beard is important, then you need to either find a different hobby, or spend some serious money. My profession is woodturning, so I didn't mind spending the big bucks for a good air helmet.

My hobby is shooting. There is another problem altogether. Shooters traditionally die of lead poisoning. Sometimes it happens right away, like when the guy in the bay next to you had a negligent discharge. Most of the time it happens slowly, and comes from shooting in closed areas, or not observing proper hygiene (i.e. washing your hands) after handling lead bullets and spent casings.

Pick a hobby, and you can probably find something about it that will kill you if you aren't watching out for it.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Barbara's advice is good, but of course she has no beard. At least, she didn't have one last time I saw her. 😛

If you suddenly find yourself in a hole ...

Put the shovel down, Bill. Now slowly back away.

Pick a hobby, and you can probably find something about it that will kill you if you aren't watching out for it.

My problem is finding a safe hobby. Let's see --

• Amateur Radio -- climbing tall towers to install antennas and working with high voltage transmitters. Not too bad, only a couple acquaintances have fallen. One survived -- 50% isn't too bad (provided that it is the 50% that survived).
• Aviation -- A couple test pilots that I worked with augered their planes into the ground. One general aviation acquaintance also bought the farm. Not too bad considering that I knew at least a couple dozen pilots who have always managed to land without making a hole in the ground. Decided to quit while while I was ahead.
• Skiing -- nice soft fluffy snow ... right? Except when it melts and then refreezes. Oh well, no pain, no gain.
• Woodturning -- only two trips to the ER so far. The ER doctor was very impressed by the surgical sharpness of my Henry Taylor cryo bowl gouge.
• Backpacking -- a nice healthy activity where one can connect with nature. Found out that as we get older our bodies may not be up to strenuous hiking in rough mountainous terrain. The good news is that I got to "enjoy" my first ever mule ride -- as the Rangers hauled me to a waiting ambulance. I also learned that mules get kind of "windy" in thin mountain air.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Drugs are "toxic" to the target in normal dosage, possibly to the organism in high dosage. So limit your dose and truly toxic, not allergenic, wood compounds will not affect you much. I don't make dust while turning, so I don't wear a mask when doing so. Sanding is another matter. There, a properly placed and employed dust collector can remove probably 95% of all dust to the confines of a container. I let gravity help, and confine most of my sanding to an area of the revolving surface that helps direct the stream into the maw of the collector. Takes three bowls to stain a Kleenex when I neglect my paper mask, so it must work pretty well on the dust. Do get the sneezes when working woods like western red cedar, but that's because, as I said elsewhere, I'm releasing compounds in the wood into the atmosphere as I crush and heat it.

I don't like competing eddies when I'm collecting, and that would describe what you can create by mounting one of those whole-shop filters in the vicinity of the lathe. I want the stuff to feel only the influence of gravity, the throw of centrifugal force and the pull of the vacuum which carries it away. If you believe that it's the smallest size particles that harm you, you'll do the same. They're the ones that are most susceptible to the eddies and influence of something pulling air from overhead. Which usually passes your nose on the way.

Then there are the horror stories, where sensitization and allergy make any dose a potentially lethal dose. The urticaria, the edema, the histamines pumping can all lead to trouble fast. EVERYONE, turner or non, young, but especially old, should have an antihistamine available in the house at all times. I like an elixer over pills. You can take it at the first sign of rection if you are one who's sensitive to other things and recognize the symptoms, or wait and call someone to come and stick you with epinepherine, which will make your heart pound and your kidneys release. If you have known issues with reactions, you may even get a self-injector prescribed. Mind the expiration date, as I have had patients whose pens were four years out of date wondering why it didn't "work like the time before."

Best of all is the old vaudeville joke.

"Doc it hurts when I do this."

"Don't do that."

No exotic wood is worth the risk if you have alternatives to which you currently exhibit no reaction. It's the turning that counts.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I threw away all of my old epipens a few months ago. I discovered that the oldest was about five years old. Actually, I practiced using them by injecting an orange. I decided that it was not a good idea to eat it after that. 😀

"Doc, I broke my arm in three places. What should I do?"

"Stay out of those three places."

 

[Barbara Gill]

LOL Bill Grumbine. You are right about the mask I use not working with a beard. I didn't know about shooters and lead poisoning; that was very interesting.

 

[john lucas]

I'm doomed, I shoot, breath wood dust, I climb cliffs and worst of all I ride bicycles breathing all that brake dust and exhaust from cars. I'll probably just get run over before the other stuff kills me.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'm doomed, I shoot, breath wood dust, I climb cliffs and worst of all I ride bicycles breathing all that brake dust and exhaust from cars. I'll probably just get run over before the other stuff kills me.

I think that you are OK as long as you don't breathe darkroom fumes. 😀

Speaking of getting run over, I had a friend who rode a motorcycle and always proclaimed that they were safe and his only concern was getting run over by a car. The good news is that he did not get run over by a car, but the bad news is that he was a hard-core tailgater and ran over a car. He survived (with a little less skin than before), but I don't know if he changed his driving habits after learning that the deck is stacked in favor of the car.

 

[Wayne Spence]

toxic dust

I'm doomed, I shoot, breath wood dust, I climb cliffs and worst of all I ride bicycles breathing all that brake dust and exhaust from cars. I'll probably just get run over before the other stuff kills me.

The EPA and the medical profession need to warn people that "In the end living will kill you" regardless of all the precautions and antidotes. Be prudent and hope for the best. Above all don't smoke while wearing your 3M Airstream.

 

[Gary Chester]

I don't use a mask, but... I have a 6" pipe coming from my dust collector right next to my turning as I'm sanding. I like watching the dust stream down that pipe.

Having said that, I need to wear ear plugs and ear muffs to protect my hearing.