Fishing Good, Wood Dust Bad!

[RiverMan]

Thought you guys might like to see some info on wood dust and our health...see the link below! Figures that the wood I most like to use, cedar, is also one of the more toxic. Bottom line tho is that most all wood dust has been shown to cause cancer in some people. Australia apparently considers all wood dust to be carcinogenic.

Isn't that special?

Jed

http://www3.gov.ab.ca/hre/whs/publications/pdf/ch045.pdf

[muskiemarc]

Thanks for the info Jed. Guess I should start wearing my mask.

Marc

[FISH JC]

Good to know. Thanks Jed. Just about any thing today were finding can be harmful to our health. As for the wood, a thing of the pass in my shop. I made a switch to a post recycled hard plastic. This material is strong, paint holds up better when epoxy coated. I like the moisture free aspect of this material. Weighs the same as dry wood.

Always where air masks and goggles while working when needed.

[RiverMan]

JC,

I would agree that many things can be harmful but if you do a search on wood dust you will find a plethora of articles and agencies warning about health risks associated with wood dust. When something says "cancer causing" I get nervous, lol.

Not familiar with the recycled "post" plastic you are referring to...can you tell me more? Sounds interesting.

Thanks!

Jed

[Lure--Prof]

Thank you Jed. Knowledge defeats ignorance every time.

Dean

[out2llunge]

You're absolutely right on about the cedar. I just had a C.T. scan yesterday because of all the trouble I get into using cedar. I can almost predict when I'm going to get sick by how much cedar dust I've exposed myself to.

Take it from me, WEAR THE MASK!...3 months of anitbiotics this year can't be wrong.

[Brett]

Agree with all, I suffer occasionally from allergy induced asthma. Last week after my hockey game I sounded like I joined Darth Vader on the dark side. Bottom line, I have the mask, must put it on. I wear a vapour mask or what ever you call it when painting and when I'm melting lead, which I both do outside but ain't taking no chances.

[RiverMan]

Geez, now you guys have me worried!

I have been wearing one of those cheap white masks that just slip on real quick. I don't find any signs of problems with the dust tho, no sneezing, coughing, etc., well except for the occassional chunk of lung material. Are you guys wearing those monstrous space-travel-like looking masks? I also melt the lead while out in the "garage", paint, oh yea, spray that in there too, lol. I find I am much happier after painting, odd huh. Probably should mention my asbestos chair too, lol.

JC,

I just did a search on plastic lumber and found that the specific gravity of this material is about .84, cedar is .34. I'm wondering if you have found the material to be a bit on the "heavy side", similar to say maple, mahogany, or oak? Cool web site by the way but I couldn't get the baits to pop up.

Jed--hack, wheez.

[out2llunge]

Just the cheap white ones for now, but I'll be upgrading or quitting bait making - one or the other.

[RiverMan]

You don't have to quit lunge, go to molds and featherlite, no wood whatsoever and you could use pre-made weights for balast so no lead. Then you could use a photo-finish process as I do and rarely have to use the paint. The only thing left is the epoxy, so far haven't heard this stuff is gonna kill us, lol.

Jed

[Big Splash]

Epoxy wont kill ya, but you can develop some nasty allergies - skin pealing etc. Avoid contact with epoxy.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey Fellas!

I like to chime in on these subjects....

I have my masters in Safety Engineering and Chemical Hygiene.....

I always wear a mask and use a dust collection system anytime I am making airborn dust. No need to go into the chemical, toxicity, or irritant issues, because you all have these down... but the little white mask are not worth the paper and cotton that they are made from.

First off, buy a quality product... H.Depot sells them:

And make sure you get the appropriate filter:

Make sure it is P100 HEPA

And Last, Learn how to wear it...most people dont know how:

User Seal Check Instructions (Fit Test)

User Seal Checks shall be performed each time the respirator wearer dons (puts on) the respirator or enters a hazardous atmosphere. A User Seal Check is not the same as the annual Respirator Fit Test.

There are two User Seal Checks to be performed:

Negative Fit Check

Don the respirator

Adjust the straps.

Place palms of user's hands over the inhalation inlets. The inhalation inlets are located on the cartridge, canister or filter. This will prevent air from entering the mask when the user inhales. If needed, the user can use a piece of plastic to help close off the inlets.

Inhale slowly.

Hold breath for about 10 seconds. The mask should collapse slightly inward.

If the mask collapses and the user feels no leaks around the mask seal, the seal should be secure.

Vigorous or overly sustained inhalation can cause the seal to leak air. This should be avoided when checking the seal.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Positive Fit Check

Don the respirator

Adjust the straps

Place the palm of the user's hand over the exhalation outlet.

Exhale slowly

Hold breath for about 10 seconds. The mask should bulge out slightly.

If the mask bulges and the user feel no leaks around the mask seal, the seal should be secure.

Vigorous or overly sustained exhalation can cause the seal to leak air. This should be avoided when checking the seal.

Take Care!

Chip

[Guest Anonymous]

Here are the material Safety Data Sheets For Devcon:

http://www.ippnet.com/msds/test2.php?name=Devcon

Chip

[FISH JC]

The material used is called Timbron.

I'm sure it has to be bad in some way to your health.

Smells funny when turning or sanding.

I'm still young and dumb.

I'm guilty of wearing the white paper masks.

I Like the ones Carolina Chip put up from 3Com.

Going to HDepot later to look into a good one.

[Guest Anonymous]

http://www.timbron.com/index.shtml This is the material you were talking about... Dont use it in your house!!!!! Makes terrible moldings! I dont know about lures...LOL

I am now making about 15% wood lures and have just signed a deal for thousands of plastic baits a month from an injection molder... He owns a large qty of molds....

Chip

[Skeeter]

EVERYONE should read and pay close attention to the information that Chip has given us on the respirators. I never thought about telling folks how to seal a mask. Uncle Sam taught me how. For those of us with beards etc. you will never get a perfect seal. But anything is better than nothing. Excellent Chip!!!!!!!! Top notch instruction.

Skeeter

[RiverMan]

Chip,

What on earth convinced you to get a Masters no less in Chemical Hygiene? Anyway, is this type of mask also helpful when melting lead and spraying paint? What is the approximate cost of the beast?

Jed

[Skeeter]

For all of you cedar freaks out there here is a little info on it. This is from a post I did about a year ago.

Cedar has an oil in it that is supposidly toxic. The wood should be kiln dried to remove most of the oil. Most of the wood that you buy from wood supply stores have been kiln dried. This is what caused the problem that Celticav was talking about with Poes. When they were bought out many years ago they got a load of ceadar that was not kiln dried. They made the lures. After about a year the oil started to rise up out of the wood and caused the finishes to crack. If you are just making a couple of lures for yourself then I would not worry. I would just wear a paper mask if you are doing any sanding with power tools. If you are going to really make alot of lures then I would invest in a respirator. I would advise you to do this with any wood. I have a special hard wood that I am currently using for some of my customers. The dust is extremely fine. The first couple of times that I sanded the stuff I got the dust in my nose and mouth from breathing while I was using a dremel. My throat got pretty sore and irritated for about 2 days. A paper mask did not do the job of keeping the dust out. It had too many leaks around the edges and I still had the problem. Now I use a respirator. I may look funny while working on my lures, but I have no more irritation. If you have just plain raw cedar then you can soak the wood in mineral spirits for a couple of hours and it should pull the oil out of the wood. But from what I understand, it makes the wood very hard.

Skeeter

[Skeeter]

Riverman,

A good respirator will run from about $35 to $70 dollars. I paid 35 for mine from harbor freight and it has helped me tremendously. I would tell Chip what you want the respirator to protect you from and ask his recommendation on a proper type of filter.

Skeeter

[woodsac]

Chip made reference to the P100. P100 is a general term in filters nowadays. The filter in the picture looks like a standard P100 HEPA 'dust particle' pancake filter.

If you are working with anything other then dust, I would suggest a 75SCP100.

This is a multi purpose chemical cartridge with P100 particulate filter. It will handle everything from dust, amonia, formaldehyde, JP8 jet fuel.

Take a look around this site to 'freshen up'. You can probably find the filters all over, but North is a major manufacturer. http://www.northsafety.com/usa/en/bs_departments.html?DID=359

[mgodliman]

I've been a wood worker all my adult life (I'm soon to be 55) a violin maker and restorer and keen lure maker almost as long nearly all my work is with hand tools so perhaps my exposure is minimall but of course I do do a lot of sandpapering.

I've heard of people aquiring allergies and the like to specific woods and I've heard of the special case of cedar,but I have never heard so far of all wood dust being carsonogenic,when you think of all the wood workers there have ever been doing all kinds of wood work over all history I'm having a stuggle to believe I need to wear a mask all day now whilst I'm sat here grappling with someones busted cello.

I sincerley hope you are wrong.

Obviuosly I plan to live for ever like Peter Pan, Count Dracular and Dorian Gray, what are the odds?

[mgodliman]

Should any one reply to my post and I don't reply quickly it's because I'm going later today to Ireland (I'm from England) pike fishing with some friends for a week.I'll be looking here when I get back.

Having had a lot of trouble registering for some reason (I think I spelt my own name wrong or something ! )I managed to re register with a different new e mail address and password.

Having finally got on here I don't want my memebership to laps for want of contributions.

[Guest Anonymous]

Riverman:

I dont know!!!! LOL Naw,, I worked in Phamaceuticals (10 years)and now the semiconductor industry (8 years). I was working in Regulatory affairs and completed the masters..

Y'all are right.... Check out a site where I buy a lot of my supplies for safety. www.labsafety.com . you can orderfrom them. Anyway, It is extremely important that you match the filter(s) up with the hazard... and store the mask (if its chemical absorbing) in a plastic bag when not in use.

For lead, i believe there is a filter? never bought one... For water based paints, a good P100 (Yes.. general term) pancake can be attached. For solvents, you want to purchase an "Organic vapors" filter.

And skeeter is correct, You can not guarantee a seal with facial hair.

_____________

Chip

[RiverMan]

Thanks for the tips on filters guys, I will for sure be buying a good mask in the coming days! As for dust causing cancer Martin, do a search on these key words "wood dust health" and you will find a multitude of sites that list the risks associated with each wood type. Some woods will list only respitory problems, nasal, etc., others include cancer! As I said, Australia considers all wood dust to be carcinogenic. Like anything else, one person can work a lifetime in dust and never be bothered while someone else might only get a few weeks before problems arise.

Skeeter,

So if I am using a chunk of dry cedar from the lumber yard is this going to cause problems with swelling, cracking, down the road? I don't see why cedar would be different than any other wood once it is dry. I use cedar only because I haven't found another wood that works correctly for what I am doing. Thx.

Jed

[KcDano]

Something else to think about pertaining to exposure of hazardous materials. You can intake substantial amounts of chemicals through your eyes; the toxicity of some of the newer catalysts for automotive finishes are not anything you should fail to safegaurd yourself against. Full face mask is the only way to go if you spray automotive finishes, and if you have facial hair consider a mask with a full hood with positive air pressure.