Walnut Irritation/Eyes Question

All of the Above

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Barry, you are becoming sensitized to the walnut. It is a progressive condition; the more exposure, the worse is the reaction. You can actually put yourself in danger of anaphylactic shock if you keep on. You can use all of the measures you mentioned and then add moonsuits so you don't drag the dust with you on your clothes when you leave the shop, but once sensitized you stay that way.

Your option is to find another wood to build with.

I've got a large pile of walnut stacked in my basement. So far, I've not been effected, but I've taken the advice of several woodworkers and always used a good mask, constant dust collection, shop cleaning, and vacuuming my clothes when done.

Re: All of the Above

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

I agree, you might want to add rubber surgical type gloves to the protective equipment recommended above.

Lee

Well crap....

Barry Irby

Walnut is my favorite wood and I have a lot of it. Not only that, it special because it I personally harvested it from the family farm and had it sawed and air dried it. About six years ago I built a bed and night stands for my son. Ended up wearing "space suits" to get it done. Hateful.

In the meantime I have worked very little of it and even then for short bursts. This coffee table has taken a few days. At first, no reaction. Now the eyes are irritated. I was hoping I had outgrown the reaction. I guess not. I will take better care of myself and finish the table, hopefully today, clean up and move on to a different wood.

Re: Well crap....

DocJim

Barry,

Not all sensitivities are true allergies that will lead to anaphylaxis and death. For example, most pollen "allergies" are really sensitivities that do not cause more than itchy eyes and runny noses and do not lead by repeated exposures to more serious reaction. When you work walnut do you have breathing problems? Do you develop hives? Do you get nauseated? Feel dizzy or lightheaded?

Certainly if you are concerned about it you can get tested by an allergist, but more than likely your mild symptoms can be pre-treated with a non-sedating antihistamine such as Claritin or Zyrtec.

Re: Well crap....

Barry Irby

Lately, it does not seem to have any effect other than scratchy/itchy eyes.

No hyves, breathing issues, lightheadedness etc.

I can't think of any other problems other than I am older than I used to be and somewhat more decrepit.

I tried Flonase because of a stuffy nose and it was wonderful. Could breath fully and deeply. For three days. Then I got a nose bleed. Not bad, just a little blood when I blew it. The pharmacist said that was a possible side effect. So I don't use it. (When I was a kid I got a major nose bleed from smelling Pinesol. Happened twice. Bled to the point they were considering a transfusion. I avoid pine scented stuff like the plague. The Flonase brought back bad memories and I ran away like a scared little girl.

Just installed the feet on the coffee table. Will clean up and avoid walnut for a while. Next time I will find some good comfortable goggles. I wear glasses but they are not keeping the dust out of my eyes.

Re: Well crap....

John K Jordan

A power filtered face mask like often used for woodturning can keep most of the very fine dust away from your eyes. Better is a 3M industrial full-face respirator (available from Amazon) - I use them mostly if I need to spray chemicals.

For walnut and some other species, I find a mild sensitivity is triggered by particles so small you can't even see them, not necessarily by sawdust I can see. If I can smell the walnut it's too much. A room air cleaner can help clear the shop while you are out.

JKJ

Re: I am so stupid! How long?

Hank Knight

I read this thread this morning. This afternoon I routed some dados in a walnut panel. I was so absorbed in getting the dados lined up correctly, I didnt think about protecting myself from the dust. I was sitting directly in the line of fire and got covered with chips and fine dust from the router. I quickly vacuumed up the mess and put on a dust mask for the remainder of the job. When I finished, I tossed my clothes in the laundry basket and showered. I've been waiting in anticipation all evening to experience bad effects from my stupidity. So far, nothing. If I'm going to have a reaction to the walnut, how long does it take to develop?

Re: I am so stupid! How long?

Barry Irby

My experience is that if you were going to have a reaction, you would have had it by now. Within an hour or two of the exposure.

For months I have been working with cherry. No reaction, nothing. Switched to walnut and it started. I do not recall if it happened on the first day but within a day or two of working walnut I started to notice scratchy eyes. They feel like I should flush them out and if I knew a good way, I would do it. A shower and clean clothes really help. Also did some shop cleaning. Today I will buy fresh filters for my homemade air cleaner. Cleaning them is cheaper, but it creates a cloud of dust and I don't need that.

I have a Festool router that has excellent dust collection. Something of PITA to set up. Real Men don't use DC on a router. Right?

Re: I am so stupid! How long?

Hank Knight

Hi, Barry,

Maybe I dodged the bullet. All is well this morning, but I'm not taking any chances. My router has no dust collection, so I'll try to rig something. I'll also wear goggles and a dust mask, long sleeves etc. This is going to be a long walnut project and I don't want to nix it in the first week. I only have a little more router work to do, all the rest is hand work or machine work where I have good dust collection. Wish me luck!

not to worry

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I only supply allergen-free walnut. It is bad business to have customers become allergic to your product

On a more serious note I have never had a customer become sensitized to walnut. Not to say it can't happen but it must be rare.

Re: not to worry

Hank Knight

Thanks, Bill. That's a comfort to know. I've used a lot of walnut over the years, but mostly for small projects. Never had a problem. I just got covered wth chips and fine dust yesterday and figured that of I was ever was going to have a problem, it would be now. Maybe I'm not susceptible to the sensitizer (I hope).

Luck of the draw

John in NM

I'm not sensitive to it either, and I've carved lots of parts from it with large tooth burrs and spindle/belt sanders. Just lucky I guess

I have fewer allergy/irritation problems from dust exposure now than when I worked in a cabinet shop. For me at least, occasional intense exposure to dust seems to cause fewer immediate problems than did 40 hour weeks of "background" exposure -- the shop had good dust collection, but I still got some all day, every working day.

Now the only irritation problems come from my day job!

Not

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Relax, Hank,

The sensitizing effect is cumulative. How soon you begin to react is, in part, a function of your own body chemistry, but it's not a one-hit kind of thing. Do that 10 times and you might (but might not) start to notice effects. 20 . . more so, and so on.