Rosewood Reaction

[Thomas Canfield]

I turned a pen from Rosewood early Saturday morning, and developed a skin irritation later that day that I originally thought was from mosquito bites, or even possibly Poison Ivy. Monday morning, I put the same dust mask back on and the rash on my face got much worse. The skin reaction to Rosewood really can be a problem if one is sensitive to it and it itches like crazy. I think that the Rosewood was the problem and not my normal mosquito bites or poison ivy.

Now to find out how to clear the rash and get all the fine dust out of the shop.

PS - I picked up the Rosewood at a really good price since the dealer was clearing out all his stock due to a reaction to the wood. Go figure the learning curve there. You can be sure it is all leaving my shop with minimal contact at this point.

[Jeff Nicol]

Tom, Sounds like an "Itchy situation" I get some burning sensation with some woods when I am sweating on my skin. Others make my nose and throat burn no matter how hard I try to keep the dust at bay. I hope you can continue to use the wood as it would be a shame to have to get rid of it again.

Take care and good luck,

Jeff

[Eric Meier]

Most rosewoods are what you call a sensitizer (http://www.wood-database.com/helpful-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/#sensitizer): so each time you get exposed to it, you can become more and more sensitive to it: and the reactions can get worse and worse.

Here's a short summary of some Wood Dust Safety (http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-dust-safety/) measures that can be taken in the future. I've heard of several reports from people that have had success with powered respirators.

[Dave Peck]

I have a friend who gets a skin rash by just walking into a shop where rosewood has been worked even a day or two before. Just a normal vacuum job (preformed by someone else of course) seemed to elevate the situation.

Dave

[Rick Vincent]

I had the same thing happen to me. The dust got under my watch band or around my shirt sleeve and it did my like posin ivey. I still have one spot that has not gone away and it has been 4 years.I have turned some since but would go take a shower soon as I turned the lathe off..

[Lance kanaby]

Rosewood belongs to the poison ivy family and its dust, actually its oil, is very toxic to many people.:mad:

[Jim King]

From the last data I have seen about 50% of the people in the States were allergic to thier spouses and were divorced. That experience is for sure more expensive and painful and possibly deadly than a wood allergy.

Just be a bit careful and dont make your mattress out of Walnut shavings as it does kill horses and Rosewood oil can cause skin rashes or worse in a few people. I would assume red dye and chocolate affect more people.

[Montgomery Scott]

That poison ivy is in the same family as rosewoods is a fairly common myth. Poison ivy belongs to the family Anicardiaceae and rosewoods to the family Leguminosae. They are unrelated.

Like poison ivy, not everyone is allergic to rosewood. I've been working with about eight species of dalbergia for the last twenty years and have yet to have a reaction.

[curtis rosche]

im not sure if it would work for rosewood reaction. but if its oils work like poison ivy, i use rubbing alcohol or bleach. it drys it up real fast. and gets rid of it. in like 3 days

[Roger Wilson]

I've recently had an itch on my arm and used Aveeno concentrated lotion (almost as thick as a cream). It has worked well for me. It dries clear so it doesn't have the usual look of calamine lotion used for poison ivy.

I made a small pencil holder awhile back from rosewood (a flat work project) and had an intense strange feeling from the dust. I don't think I'll be working with it again.

http://www.aveeno.com/images/pr/3690_antiitchconc_4_300.gif

[Thomas Canfield]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. My dermatologist cannot confirm the rash as poison ivy or wood reaction, but same result and treatment in any case. I started a prednisone treatment that will go for 3 weeks because of previous history of reaction to poison ivy - BAD - with little or no contact except being in the area. Looks like the wood reaction thing will be another concern.

Looking at the pen again, I think that the blank was a single picked up at the local Rockler store, but likely in the rosewood or cocobolo family. It is still my best guess as the problem, and I definitely will review my wood selection in the future.