Safety & Allergic Reaction Potential

This section is provided to help mitigate, through education, the potential dangers in using wood, particularly when creating sawdust and then breathing or coming in contact with that dust.

When working with wood & wood dust

• Wood Dust
  • Wood dust will:
    • Burn easily when exposed to an open flame or is heated s
      sufficiently.
    • Explode when suspended in the air in sufficient quantities and/ or if if comes in contact with an ignition source.
  • Ignite through spontaneous combustion if it is mixed with oils. Wood dust is a potential carcinogen with an increased risk of contracting nasal cancer after repeated and long-term exposure to wood dust.
  • Wood dust is the medium by which potentially irritant chemicals found in wood can cause allergic contact dermititis and adverse respiratory reactions.
  • Once finished, wood is basically inert.
• Allergic Reaction
  • Most woods, domestic as well as imported, contain chemical compounds which some individuals find irritating during cutting or sanding. While wood alone is not hazardous, skin contact with or the inhalation of wood dust can be. Dust is the usual means to convey the potentially irritating compounds found in most woods.
    Installers, because of their repeated exposure to sanding and sawdust, need to be aware of the possibility of allergic reaction. Your flooring, once coated with a finish, is basically inert.
• The allergic reaction symptoms come in two forms:
  • It can be respiratory, causing sneezing and/or breathing problems or;
  • It can be in the form of a skin irritant, causing itching and in rare cases stronger allergic reactions such as painful rashes.

   

As an individual becomes sensitized to a wood over time, these reactions can get stronger. Despite years of working in close, (and we might add dusty), contact with these woods, no one at VWF has experienced any allergic reactions to date. However, one case has come to our recent attention in which a famous installer did have a severe reaction. This individual had been using exotic woods in elaborate pattern work extensively over the last thirty years and had obviously been previously sensitized as a result. He experienced serious contact dermatitis, breaking out in painful rashes after installing a Bolivian Rosewood floor. So it can happen! In general, preventative measures such as having good dust collection attached to your sanders, wearing long sleeve shirts and hats to avoid skin exposure, and showering after being exposed to dust, will minimize the skin irritant potential. Wearing a good dust respirator will mitigate the respiratory dangers. However, for those who wish to test their skin’s allergic reactive potential prior to working with large quantities of dust may perform a skin patch test. Take a small quantity of fine dust from the wood being used and place under a round Band-Aid on the inside of your forearm. Leave in place for 24 hours and then remove. If any serious skin irritation is present - DO NOT proceed. We recommend this test be performed prior to using any woods, which we have noted as having a high potential for allergic reaction, in very dust conditions. Below is a chart, which lists the wood known to have allergic reaction potential.